role of key personnel

• a responsibility of the judge is management of the trial, meaning enforcing rules of procedure and giving directions as appropriate such as which witnesses will be allowed to talk and directing the parties to mediation or another alternative dispute resolution method
• a responsibility of the judge when there is no jury involves determining liability at a standard of balance of probabilities and deciding on a remedy
• a responsibility of the judge is attending to the jury, meaning explaining the evidence and ensuring that the jurors understand their role
• a responsibility of the judge involves being objective meaning not having a connection to either of the parties and remaining unbiased
• responsibilities of the judge include management of the trial, determining liability and remedy, attending to the jury and being objective
• a strength of a judge is that they remain impartial meaning no party is advantaged or disadvantaged
• a strength of a judge is that they are experts and can use this expertise when managing the case and determining liability
• a strength of a judge is that they can assist self-represented parties
• a weakness of a judge is that they are human and therefore capable of developing bias'
• a weakness of a judge is that when assisting a self-represented party they cannot advocate on their behalf, they can only ensure that they understand the terminology and process, meaning that the self-represented party is still significantly disadvantaged
• there are 6 jurors in a civil jury
• parties are more inclined to have a jury when they have a lot of money and a fancy lawyer that will be able to trick the jury
• a responsibility of the jury is to be objective meaning they must be unbiased and have no connection to the parties (decide only based on the facts)
• a responsibility of the jury is to listen to the evidence presented in court and listen to the instructions given by the judge
• a responsibility of the jury is to determine liability and remedy (the judge and legislation give a guide to what damages should be given)
• a strength of the jury is that jury members are randomly picked and have no connection to the parties
• a strength of a jury is that it allows members of the community to participate in the justice system and the decision is therefore more likely to reflect community values
• a strength of the jury is that the collective decision making can reduce the possibility of bias'
• a weakness of jury is that they may have unconscious bias' and don't have to give reasons for their decision meaning that there is no way of knowing whether their bias' impacted their decision making
• a weakness of jury is that it results in further delays due to the case and terminology needing to be explained to the jurors and due to the time taken for jury deliberations to be completed
• a weakness of the jury is that a number of people cannot participate due to being ineligible, excused or disqualified and it means that the trial is not utilising the person in the room with the greatest expertise
• the parties in a civil dispute are the plaintiff and the defendant and both have complete control over how their case will be run
• the parties roles are often done on behalf of their legal representatives/practitioners
• a responsibility of the parties involves making decisions about the conduct of the case such as what claims they will make, what defences they will raise and which witnesses they will call
• a responsibility of the parties involves disclosing all relevant information to the other party
• a responsibility of the parties involves participating in the trial, meaning making an opening and closing address, presenting their case to the judge/jury and cross-examining witnesses called by the other side
• a responsibility of the parties involves complying with the overarching obligations such as acting honestly and not misleading or decieving
• a strength of the parties is that they have complete control over how they will run their case (they are not forced to do or say anything)
• a weakness of the parties is that the processes involved are complex and difficult to understand without the use of a lawyer, thus making it difficult for self-represented parties
• a weakness of the parties is that by having complete control over their case this can be stressful and costly