Thursday, December 30, 2010

IELTS Writing Task 2

Topic: Under British and Australian laws a jury in a criminal case has no access to information about the defendant’s past criminal record. This protects the person who is being accused o the crime. Some lawyers have suggested that this practice should be changed and that a jury should be given all the past facts before they reach their decision about the case. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer.

Laws play a pivotal role in controlling and stabilizing a nation as a whole. Although some people claim that it is acceptable not to assess information about the defendant’s prior offences by a jury, others believe that all relevant information should be revealed to a jury. Clearly, a jury should have a special privilege to obtain details information to the defendant due to the importance of a correct court determination.

It may be true that in some countries a jury in a criminal case has no right, which is stated by the judicial legislation, to acquire more information that is related to the previous record of a defendant. An example of this case is constituted in British and Australian laws. This benefits the criminal who sometimes tends to conceal the past illegal activities. Another positive thing is that it may minimize the punishment issued by the court. Thus, previous record of crime, in some cases, should be concealed for individual benefit.

It can be argued that it is good mechanism to enforce laws effectively in the case that a jury should be entitled to have special right to obtain all relevant important information about the defendant. This illustrates that effectiveness of law enforcement as well as a correct court determination can be performed efficiently in modern society. An example in the case that a jury has privilege to access prior offences of defendant exists in some communist countries- Vietnam, Laos, and China. The advantages of essential information obtained are to dispense justice to the defendant. Therefore, it is necessary that a jury should have access to needy information for the sake of fair judgment.

In conclusion, though some countries practice laws which restricted the right of a jury not to obtain past record of criminal and merely benefit the defendant, the essential changes towards these proceedings should be practiced for the effectiveness of law enforcement as well as fair judgment in society as a whole.

By Nguon Sophal


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