You know, this is a good read. I just can't put it down. It fits. It fits with our times.

anyone who imagines the inquisitorial system searches for the truth is also certain the tooth fairy patrols his pillow.

let's just say that totalitarian dictatorships use the inquisitorial system, get fast cheap results, and very high prosecution success rates.

it's not the system of the law that's the problem- it's the system of government. if we lived in a democracy, i would guess that the inquisitorial principle is best. but we don't, and when an educated man such as the author doesn't understand this- we aren't likely to live in a democracy anytime soon.

until we do, any way to keep people out of jail is probably a good thing. i hate to see anyone in jail on the sayso of a judge and lawyers, it's dicey enough when there's a jury involved.

I agree with the term serial liars being levelled at lawyers. Why can’t we tip out the law schools or level prohibitive charges on anyone studying law? We need engineers and scientists not lawyers. It is a strange anomaly where the most successful and convincing liar is able to hone his skills in law school then emerge and rip off the rest of his community while promoting himself as a defender of the oppressed and disadvantaged. Do we really need immigration lawyers or sports lawyers etc.?
I believe our whole legal and judicial system is corrupt; you only need to recall the barristers who avoid income tax with legal manoeuvres and the judges and magistrates on paedophilia charges.
GET THE LAWYERS OUT OF THE FRAME AND SOCIETY WILL HAVE MORE MONEY TO SPEND WHERE IT IS NEEDED.

Are things likely to change in Australia? Not likely. Of the 17 ministers in the Howard government cabinet, 12 are lawyers and one a party hack. They pretty much have everything wrapped up.

Wake up,

when we have a system that relies on the power of infuence just as much as the evidence, lawyers NEED to relay their case in a manner that most benefits the client who pays them.

If you have ever been on the end of legal proceedings, you will realise that the way they operate and the way they attempt to influence is essential and the difference between winning and loosing.

Just about all evidence can be refuted and if justified, a clever lawyer can swing the tables. this is a system hunderds of years old, dont hate the player, hate the game.

SILLE,
You are very close with you view of the legal system, the problem is that the Judicial System does not exist in the form we have been led to believe and that is required by the so called elected members of our Parliament.
The Barristers who don't pay TAX don’t have to because it is only a voluntary obligation and NOT compulsory. If you have applied for a TAX FILE NUMBER you have asked to be a TAX PAYER and entered into a contract to do so. Tell the TAX COMMISSIONER not to use your identifying TFN for any purpose, not even for tax purposes. He knows where he stands on this matter and that is why there is a Bill before the Federal Parliament shifting the liability to other artificial entity for the offences they know they are committing if you revoke your consent.

EVAN you do appear to have a problem with the adversarial system and this would be justified if we had properly constituted courts.
I am unaware of the other States but Qld does not have properly constituted courts of law and has not had them for a long time as some unidentified individual in the Attorney-Generals Dept has instructed the Registrars not to use the Court SEALS on any documents (originating process) lodged in the Registries for the specific purpose of having the process signed, sealed, FILED and issued to the Court. You can still have the matter in dispute dealt with in the places used for this purpose but it then becomes an entirely different ball game as these decisions can never be successfully appealed and when attempting to file in the final appellate court, the High Court of Australia they again fail to properly sign, seal, file and issue the process to the Court. You are allowed your twenty minutes but the result will always be the same as you have been scammed all the way along the curial process because of your ignorance of the LAW and the requirement that Govt policy is to prevail over the rule of law.