Explain how a court system works?

Question

What do the jury, defendant, etc. do? How does a court "case" go? Why do people say "your honor"?

Answer 1

You may want to research courts online..starting with your local court system, they have a full explaination of procedures on their web site.

Answer 2

This is a very very simplified explanation and desn't contain everything and involves the US.  

Basically there are two kinds of trials.  One is criminal and one is civil.  In criminal, the State or the Country is always the Plaintiff (the one making the accusation) and the Defendant is the one who is defending himself/theirself against the accusation.  People sometimes think the victim of the crime is bringing the suit, but the victim is only a witness.  The crime was committed by breaking a law of a State or Government, so the State or Government is the one suing.  

In a civil case, no crime has been committed, so the Plaintiff is either one person, several people, or an entity like a company or even a government.  The Defendant is one person, several people, or an entity like a company or even a government.  

The Defendant gets to decide whether he wants the decision to be made by a judge or a jury.  A jury is a group of people (usually 6 or 12) who have been chosen to hear the evidence and make the decision.

In a criminal matter, the Plaintiff (the State or the government) makes the accusation and must prove it totally.  The Defendant can simply sit there and refuse to say anything.  Or he can decide to present his side of the story.  He does not have to testify and if he chooses not to testify, this cannot be held against him.  The Plaintiff in a criminal matter must prove the accusation beyond a reasonable doubt.  The Defendant will often try to create a reasonable doubt in his defense.

In a civil matter, the Plaintiff has the burden of proof but he doesn't need to prove it as much - it's called a preponderance of the evidence.  So it's like saying, I have the most evidence and it makes the most sense.  In a criminal matter, it's like saying I have the most evidence, it makes sense, AND there is no other reasonable explanation.  In a civil matter the Defendant must answer the accusation or he loses.

In a criminal matter, the State or Government only gets one chance to prove their case.  If they lose, they cannot try the person again.  This is called "double jeopardy".  So if you are tried for murder and found not guilty and leave the courthouse and go on TV and say "ha ha I did it", you cannot be tried again for the murder.  This sounds like it doesn't make sense but it's so that a person cannot be continually harassed by having to go through trials.  There are some exceptions to double jeopardy like in the above example, although the state cannot try him again for murder, they can try him for lying to the court (perjury).  Or if he murdered and stole the victim's $, they can try him for stealing the $ (as long as stealing the $ was not part of the original case).

So......that's where it gets really complicated because there are tons and tons of rules and procedures that must be followed or the case gets thrown out.  That's usually why there are lawyers involved.  But it begins, each side shows their evidence (if they want to in a criminal case), and a decision is made.

If one party loses, they can usually appeal the outcome all the way to the Supreme Court.  But that's another long story.

The Judge is called "your honor" out of tradition and respect.

Sorry to go on and on and on, but like I said, this is hardly even the beginning!