How the courts operate
Last week, we looked at what a civil case is. In a civil case, a person or an organisation takes a matter to court not for the other person/organisation who did a wrong thing to be sent to prison, but for the wrongdoer to offer compensation or provide a service.
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The situation is entirely different in a Criminal Case. A criminal case is a court case in which someone is tried for engaging in an activity or conduct which is considered not acceptable by the legislature or state.
The accused person in this case is considered to have committed a crime against the state and the individual who suffered in that crime.
If convicted (found guilty), the accused person may be ordered to pay a fine, go to prison, perform a community service or complete other aspects of a sentence, such as attending a drug abuse treatment programme (if that person was abusing drugs).
The process of trying a criminal case starts when an offence is committed and a victim reports the offence to the law enforcement agencies, such as the Police.
The police will then collect information about the offence and send it to a prosecutor.
A prosecutor is someone who determines whether or not there is enough information to go ahead with a criminal case.
If a prosecutor decides that there is enough information for a case to go to court, then a trial begins.
The trial itself is a complex process of courtroom procedures which often seem strange to those who are not lawyers.
The lawyers and judges understand the process because they have been to school to study law and also have courtroom experience.
The court operates under strict rules and everyone behaves very formally.
For instance, one must dress neatly while in the courtroom, turn off their mobile phones, not eat, drink or chew gum but sit quietly.
We will learn more next time.
Compiled by Eugenia Adjei-Mensah / Junior Graphic / Ghana
