Explained: Adversarial Vs Inquisitorial Justice Delivery Systems

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Adversarial Vs Inquisitorial
Adversarial Vs Inquisitorial

New Delhi (ABC Live India): Adversarial Vs Inquisitorial : Today everything in our society is being done in the interest of Justice. ABC Research Inputs.

There are two types of Justice Delivery systems though which the quest for Justice can be achieved.

  1. Adversarial Justice Delivery System
  2. Inquisitorial Justice Delivery System

Adversarial Justice Delivery System

The adversarial or adversary system is a Justice Delivery System used in the common law countries, where two advocates represent their parties’ case or position before an impartial person or group of people, usually a judge or jury, who attempt to determine the truth and pass judgment accordingly.

The adversarial system is the two-sided structure under which criminal trial courts operate, putting the prosecution against the defence.

Inquisitorial Justice Delivery System

An inquisitorial system is a Justice Delivery System in which the court, or a part of the court, is actively involved in investigating the facts of the case.

Prior to the case getting to trial, magistrate judges in the investigation of a case, often assessing material by police and consulting with the prosecutor.

Comparisons of Both Legal Systems

In an adversarial system, judges focus on the issues of law and procedure and act as a referee in the contest between the defence and the prosecutor. Judges under adversarial system decide matters of fact, and sometimes matters of the law. Neither judge nor jury can initiate an inquiry, and judges rarely ask witnesses questions directly during trial.

In inquisitorial system the trial judges are inquisitors who actively participate in fact-finding public inquiry by questioning defence, prosecutors, and witnesses. They could even order certain pieces of evidence to be examined if they find presentation by the defence or prosecution to be inadequate.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says, “The inquisitorial system is associated with civil law legal systems, and it has existed for many centuries. It is characterized by extensive pre-trial investigation and interrogations with the objective to avoid bringing an innocent person to trial. The inquisitorial process can be described as an official inquiry to ascertain the truth, whereas the adversarial system uses a competitive process between prosecution and defence to determine the facts. The inquisitorial process grants more power to the judge who oversees the process, whereas the judge in the adversarial system serves more as an arbiter between claims of the prosecution and defence.”

Status of Both the Justice Delivery Systems in India

The Malimath Committee on Criminal Justice Reform in India recommended shifting of India Justice Delivery from adversarial system to inquisitorial system, wherein magistrates are asked to inculcate a dynamic quest for truth for ensuring complete justice, which is not only done but seen to be done.

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