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The United States Supreme Court is an important, exciting and controversial institution. While lawyers and academics fiercely debate how and why the Supreme Court makes its decisions, for most Americans it is the decisions themselves that matter. This is hardly surprising given the fact that the Court often has the last word on the great political controversies of the day. We begin therefore with an examination of the Supreme Court’s contemporary agenda: after a brief overview of the Court’s past agendas, we identify the major questions of public policy
II: THE COURT With the exception of a very small number of high-status guests and relatives, the many men and fewer women who attended court were there to serve the prince and enjoy his favour. 1 Some attended on a regular basis, the terms of their service set out in the household ordonnances [ 4 , 6 ]. Others were occasional
For the uninitiated, the Irish District Court is a place of incomprehensible, organised chaos. This detailed account of the court’s criminal proceedings, based on an original study that involved observing hundreds of cases, aims to demystify the mayhem and provide the reader with descriptions of language, participant discourse and procedure in criminal cases. The book also captures an important change in the District Court: the advent of the immigrant or the Limited-English-proficient (LEP) defendant. It traces the rise of these defendants and explores the issues involved in ensuring access to justice across languages. It also provides an original description of LEP defendants and interpreters in District Court proceedings, ultimately considering how they have altered the District Court as an institution and how the characteristics of the District Court affect the ability of limited English proficient defendants to access justice at this level of the Irish courts system.
Whereas Chapter 2 addressed a hierarchy of principles (parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law), here we address institutional relationships. The creation of the UK supreme court in 2009, replacing the appellate committee of the House of Lords as the nation’s highest court, raised the issue of the relationship between this new distinct body and the other elements of the constitutional system – the executive and Parliament. How has the relationship of the court to each other element changed in recent years? Three models have been developed that provide a
The United States Supreme Court is an important, exciting and controversial institution. This book includes the major decisions of the 2014 and 2015 Supreme Court Term. It examines some of the fascinating policy issues that are central to the Court by examining its contemporary agenda. The book analyses the Court's major decisions on controversial issues such as race, abortion, capital punishment and gay rights. It explains the ideas that underpinned the creation of the Supreme Court in the first place and how and why it has changed over the years. The book then investigates how the framers of the Constitution envisaged the nature and the role of the Supreme Court, and how and why these have evolved. With examples, it also explains the process by which the personal, the judicial and the political are interwoven in some of the Court's most important cases. Next, the book takes up the specifically judicial and legal basics of the Court's structure and processes and looks at the rules and procedures that govern the Justices' work. The key concept of judicial review, the source of the Court's power is then examined. The book moves on to analyse one of the most controversial features of the contemporary Supreme Court, the process of appointing new Justices, and examines the politicisation of the appointment process. Finally, it explores how powerful is the Court and what is its role in American government and politics.
1 Introducing the District Court Within the court itself, no room. Three hard benches, and the unlucky ones line the walls. It gets too hot, too cold, too stuffy, too noisy, too quiet. Even the gardai1 don’t know how to use the microphones. The Justice is irritated. Justice is flawed. The solicitor arrives late. Justice is delayed. The lists are long and the bailsmen have to come back the next day. People don’t know what to do and other people are too busy to help them. Tempers flare, spirits flag, and the long hopeless grind grinds on. McCafferty (1981
8 French women and reproductive knowledge at the Spanish court W in the previous chapter how women of differing social status, from queens to rural wetnurses, negotiated medical authority over child care at the French royal court during the sixteenth century. How did these same women fare when they attempted to establish their authority at the foreign courts to which they were sent as consorts and as part of the royal entourage? This chapter examines the intersections between university medicine and the reproductive knowledge of court women across sixteenth
Introduction The abundant records of manor courts represent the single most important source for the study of English local society in the Middle Ages, and offer unique and highly detailed information relating to a wide range of subjects. Consequently, studies of court rolls have a long and distinguished pedigree, and in recent years the methods deployed by historians to
about procedures when an individual is facing criminal charges, or does the phrase imply that there may be limits upon the types of law or legal processes that can be introduced? What approaches should judges adopt in deciding these matters? Should words and phrases be understood in a narrow, literal way? Or should they be understood in terms of their broader implications? Should judges pay heed to earlier court rulings or should they feel unrestrained by precedent? Of course, the commonly accepted meaning of
3 The juvenile court: property, place and play The Children Act 1908 established the principle that juvenile courts should deal with those aged 7–16 (raised to 8–17 in 1932), as separate hearings from those associated with adult criminal justice, and with the aim of adopting an ethos oriented towards social welfare. Children in need of care or protection were dealt with alongside those accused of offences, terms such as ‘conviction’ and ‘sentence’ were avoided, and the child’s ‘welfare’ should be regarded in all cases. However, the form that juvenile courts took