Hello, how you doing? I hope you're doing well.

My name is Mrs. Tamasi and I'm gonna be working through with you on your citizenship lesson today.

So if you've got everything you need, you're all set and good to go, we'll get started.

Title of today's lesson is "How does the Justice System Work Elsewhere"? This forms part of the unit on how does the democratic system work across the world.

Hopefully by the end of the lesson today you'll be able to explain how the role of justice system varies across the world.

In the lesson today, there'll be two key words.

You'll see these in bold, so if you ever need to, you can refer back to them here.

First one is judiciary.

This is the branch of state that's responsible for enforcing the law.

It's composed of judges and other legal officials.

The second key word is justice, that's fairness as a result of the application of the law, usually by a judge in society.

We'll make a start with the first learning cycle today.

That is, what is the role of the justice system? So we'll start with two words.

Now we saw the key word there justice, and we also have another word to explore, which is law.

Now laws refer to the specific rules or laws that have been set and must be followed by all citizens, whereas justice refers to the fair consequences that apply when a law is broken.

It's good to put this into perspective so it gives you an idea when we're talking about the justice system, where it comes from.

So to give you an example of this, you've got Ms. Smith might break the rules, that's the laws, by driving her car at 90 mile per hour.

As a result, she might lose her driving licence.

That's justice.

So they are closely linked but they're not exactly the same.

And it's important that the legal systems are just, to make sure that the system is fair for everybody.

So what is the justice system? I gave that example a minute ago about the consequences.

What do you think the most justice system might involve? You might know some stuff already about how the justice system works in the UK.

Can you think what it involves? Key point of it to work out is that it's about enforcing the laws to ensure fairness and protect rights.

The justice system is key part of how a country ensures law and order, fairness, protection of individual rights and accountability.

Did you manage to work out who was involved? Did you get people like the police, the courts, the judges, prisons, probation services? There are lots of different services that are involved and you might have been able to recognise some of them.

If we look at England and Wales as an example, the role of justice is about fairness, equality and making sure that everyone follows the law.

Now how this works is that there are lots of different people and organisations involved.

Again, some of them that we've just seen are gonna be involved in the England and Wales and it's broken into three layers.

This is laws, can you think what the other ones might be? We've got the courts and then we've got the police.

So they are the three different layers.

Now within that you have some of them roles of like we looked at earlier and that might be people like the police officers, the judges, the magistrates, jury, solicitors, barristers, probation officers and parliament.

So there are lots of different people involved.

Do you think it's good that there's lots of different people involved in the justice system? Why would that be a good thing you think about having all them different opinions and different points of view that can help to ensure that the system is fairer? So the CPS, that's a crown prosecution service, is also involved and they are an independent body.

So why are we talking about this? This justice system forms part of the judiciary branch and this is one of three branches of government.

Hopefully you might have heard of this.

And it is known as the separation of powers.

The reason power is separated in the country is to ensure that no single part of government has full control.

And it ensures, again, like we're talking about earlier, there's different voices and that there's different people making those decisions.

So the power is not concentrated with one group.

Do you know what the other two branches are? So they are the legislative and you might guess there by the picture.

If you know that that's parliament, great job.

Then you've got the executive and a little hint there because it's written on there, that involves government.

And then you've got the judiciary and that's the one that we've talking that involves the justice system and the courts.

Do you know what each of these branches does? A hint with the pictures might give you a bit of a clue.

So did you know that the legislative branch is for making and amending laws, in the UK that's made up of three parts, the House of Commons, House of Lords and the monarchy.

In the executive branch is the government.

That's the group of people that govern the country and their role is to enforce the law.

And then you've got the judiciary and that is made up of the judges and they are there to ensure trials are fair, protect people's rights, they administer the justice and interpret the laws.

Three different roles there.

Legislative, make an amending, executive, enforcing and judiciary is interpreting the law.

So we're gonna do a check for understanding now, can you match the branch of government to its main role? A is interpret laws, B make laws, C enforce laws.

Which branch of government is it? How did you get on? Did you work out legislative makes laws, the executive enforces and the judiciary interprets laws.

Brilliant job if you managed to get that.

And this is important 'cause this is what we are gonna look at in the lesson.

So Aisha says, does the justice system look the same in every country? Well that's a good question, what do you think? Do you think every country would have the same kind of justice system like we saw in England and Wales with all those different organisations? Well not quite.

The justice system reflects the way a country is governed, the laws and values within that country.

So some countries have what we call a democratic system.

So this might be where people get a chance to vote and they might have representatives who they elect and they might have a say in the decisions that are made in the country.

And these systems tend to have independent judiciaries and fair trials.

Not always, however, the majority of time, that's the kind of trend you'd follow if you saw a democratic system.

Now some countries have non-democratic systems and again, not always, but the majority of time, this would be where the government may control the judiciary or trials may not be open or fair.

We're gonna explore this a little bit further in the lesson, but just so you know at the moment, it's remembering that each country does have a different justice system.

So let's have a look at some, we've got Canada, now Canada has a constitutional monarchy.

Do you know what that is? Have you heard of Monarch before? So the monarch being the king or queen.

When you have a constitutional monarchy, it means that you've also got maybe say a parliament or you've got an a separate legislative branch.

You have another group that is in charge of the legislative branch.

The monarch plays more of like a ceremonial role rather than is involved fully in the decisions of the country.

So Canada's considered democratic.

You remember what that was earlier, that idea where you can vote and there is a clear separation of powers.

The judiciary is independent from the executive.

Yeah, so that government is independent from those judges and the trials are open and fair.

All individuals are treated equally under the law.

So in Canada's justice system, this means the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The cases are heard by a judge and sometimes a jury and they have a legal aid programme that helps people who cannot afford legal representation.

Does this sound similar to a justice system that you might have heard of before? 'Cause it sounds quite similar to what we have in England and Wales, is this idea, you know, innocent till proven guilty, you have a judge and sometimes jury and there is a legal aid programme.

It shows you that there are similarities between democratic countries that have justice systems. Now if we look at another side, we've got Iran.

So Iran's considered non-democratic and this there is not a clear separation of powers.

The judiciary is influenced by the government and religious leaders, but those branches aren't all independent.

There are lots of crossover between them, which means that the justice system and those decisions that are made could be influenced by those that are in power.

If you thinking back to why we have the justice system, what it's for, maybe this system might not be so fair.

To give you an example, in February, 2025, there was a British couple, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, and they were detained in Iran and accused of espionage.

When we say espionage, it's this idea of spying to gather information for foreign governments.

So they were charged by the Iranian judiciary for this, but no public evidence was provided.

The couple were travelling through the country on their motorbike.

So they were doing a round the world trip and they were arrested in a place in Iran called Kerman.

Now what's happened here is previously, there have been politically motivated arrests in this area before and this is this idea of where the separation of powers might not be so clear.

Because when arrests are made that are politically motivated, it could mean that the judiciary has been influenced by the government there.

In this case, the British foreign office are in contact with the local authorities then offering assistance from the UK government.

Alex says, "My family going on holiday soon.

I didn't realise that systems could be so different in other countries.

Should I check the country's justice system before we visit?" Do you know what, actually it's not a bad idea.

It is crucial when visiting countries to check how the justice system works because like we've seen, it does vary between nations.

And even if a country is considered democratic or non-democratic, it doesn't mean they're gonna have the same justice systems. So it's always worth checking a place before you visit because an act that's legal in the UK, it might be illegal in another and that could lead to serious consequences such as a arrest or imprisonment.

If you keep yourself informed, then actually it could help you avoid legal issues.

And also you're showing respect for the country that you are visiting.

True or false, the justice system looks the same in every country.

That's false, why? The justice system is different in every country 'cause it's shaped by that country's government, laws, culture and values.

Now this leads us onto the first task for today.

So Lucas has made a statement about the justice system.

One, demonstrate why he's not accurate by rewriting it correctly.

Two, write one paragraph to explain the role of the justice system with an example.

So Lucas says "The role of the justice system is to enforce laws.

This forms part of the legislative branch." If you wanna take some time and just reflect and think about why it's not correct, how you could rewrite it and then take some time to do your explanation, un-pause when you're ready and we can have a look at some feedback together.

So how did you find that? Now? First of all, he wasn't accurate because it forms part of the judiciary branch, not the legislative branch.

And then for the second part you could have said the role of the justice system is to ensure that laws are followed and that people are treated fairly.

The justice system does not look the same in every country and reflects the way a country has governed the laws and values within that country.

For example, in Canada the justice system is based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty, meaning the accused have the right to a fair trial.

How did you get on with that, did you get something similar? Hopefully that main idea there is that you've got this idea that you know that the justice system looks different in each country and it's reflecting the way that that country is governed.

That's the important part there.

You could have given example from anywhere and you might even know some different ones yourself.

So brilliant work if you manage to do that.

We're now gonna move on to the second learning cycle.

So is an independent judiciary important? So what is meant by an independent judiciary? So we saw what the judiciary branch was, what is meant by it being independent? We kind of started to talk a little bit about that earlier.

Did you manage to get anything? The importance is is judges are free to make decisions without interference from the government or other leaders depending on how the country is governed.

This helps to ensure rule of law.

Do you know what rule of law is? So that idea that nobody is above the law, not even the leaders, everybody has to follow that same principle and to ensure fairness and rights in the country.

So why have an independent judiciary? Can you think why it's important? Trials are fair, they're not influenced.

Judges can hold the government to account, laws are interpreted based on justice, not politically motivated or for somebody else's gain.

And human rights are protected because we're ensuring the laws are followed and the fairness is there.

Why is an independent judiciary important? A, to ensure laws are interpreted based on justice.

B, to protect human rights.

C, to allow the government to be involved in judges' decisions.

There are two correct answers here and it is A and B.

Obviously we don't want the government to be involved in judges' decisions and obviously to be independent, you don't want to allow the government in to be involved in judges' decisions.

You want it to be interpreted based on justice.

So have a look at some examples now.

So we've got Germany, Germany has a robust separation of powers.

Do you remember that from earlier? Preventing too much control and too much power from one branch.

So they ensure the judiciary operates independently from both the executive and their legislative branches.

In December, 2024, the German law makers actually passed legislation to further protect the federal constitutional court.

That's what their judiciary branch is called in Germany, from any more political interference.

Now what they did was they strengthened it by ensuring that at least 2/3, so just over 66% of parliament had to agree if they wanted to make changes to the judiciary branch.

The reason for this and the reason that it's that 2/3 is because if one party had a majority, they tend to have just over 50% of seats.

So by upping it to just over 66%, it means that you'd also probably have to have like cross party and other parties on side with the changes as well.

So it ensures a bit more fairness and making sure that everyone actually agrees rather than one party just being able to control the changes that are gonna be implemented.

So Jacob says, do all countries have an independent judiciary? What do you think about this? So we know from earlier that the justice systems are different across the countries.

What do we think about having independent judiciaries? Hopefully you managed to get it, actually no, not all countries have a clear separation of powers.

Again, more likely non-democratic countries, but there are crossover, you know, but democracy is a sliding scale.

So there can be crossover, but it's non-democratic countries that are more likely to not to have an independent judiciary.

What this means is that judges may be influenced or controlled by the government.

Courts might be used to support political decisions rather than protect justice.

This is what we was talking about earlier.

To give you an example, Turkey has a presidential system.

They are actually seen as a democratic country, but with weaknesses.

So this is like what we were saying, there can be crossover.

To give you an example, the executive branch has significant control over judicial appointments.

And what that means is that the executive branch can appoint and pick who takes those positions and this then is seen that the judiciary is not fully independent because the executive can have control over who is gonna be put in that position.

So in 2025 there was the arrest and trial of opposition Mayor, this arrest and trial of the opposition Mayor sparked protests and raised questions, the fairness of the judiciary, it highlighted that there's concerns around the judiciary system and that it could be used for political purposes, undermining the independence and fair trials, which again leads back to this idea of there being a weak separation of powers.

Next, you've got Saudi Arabia.

Now Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy.

It's considered non-democratic.

When we say absolute monarchy, it means that the king or queen has full control of decisions in the country.

So the king is the head of state, government and the judiciary, and he acts as the final court of appeal.

So this includes the use of capital punishment and executions.

It is the king that gets the final decision on that.

So in 2021, Salma al-Shehab, a UK university student, was arrested while visiting Saudi Arabia, she was originally sentenced to six years in prison for using social media to support women's rights.

However, after the case was appealed, her sentence was increased to 34 years and then following international pressure.

So this again shows you the idea around the fairness of the justice system and the interpretation as being able to change the sentence by so many years.

Now following international pressure and advocacy from human rights organisations, her sentence was later reduced to four years and she was released in February, 2025.

Some of the organisations that got involved said there was a breach of human rights violations in this case.

This is an example of how sometimes a judiciary might not be seen as independent.

So Jacob says, "How does an independent judiciary protect human rights?" What do you think about this? So ensures that fair trials take place, decisions are based on law and evidence, not politics or opinions, freedom of expression.

So courts can stop unfair punishment for speaking out.

This ensures there's protection from abuse.

So judges hold the government and officials to account and the law is upheld.

So courts protect individual rights and apply the law fairly.

Identify one way an independent judiciary links to human rights.

Did you manage to get something? I mean, there's lots of different ideas here.

You could have just got one of them.

So ensure fair trials take place, ensure freedom of expression, ensures protection from abuse and ensures the law is upheld.

Good job if you managed to get one of them.

And this moves us on to the final task for today.

Can you explain why an independent judiciary is essential for protection of human rights? Take some time, maybe you might wanna have a discussion, you might wanna talk to someone first about it before you come up with ideas.

You might wanna look at some case studies or some examples.

When you're ready, un-pause and then we'll go through the feedback together.

How did you find that? Now you could have said, an independent judiciary ensures that judges can make decisions based on law and justice without external pressures from the government or other entities.

This impartiality is crucial for protection individuals rights such as the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of expression as it prevents the misuse of power and upholds the rule of law.

Did you get something like that? Brilliant work if you did.

This now brings us to a close of today's lesson.

So we're just gonna summarise.

A justice system is how a country enforces laws, ensures fairness and protects rights.

It ensures fairness, protection of rights and accountability.

Justice system varies across the world and are based on the way a countries govern the laws and values within that country.

Democratic countries are more likely to have independent judiciaries.

An independent judiciary is free from interference from the government.

This helps to ensure protection of human rights, allowing for protection against abuse and freedom of expression.

So hopefully you've managed to take away from today that the justice system does vary across the world and it's really important to be up to date, especially if you are gonna visit any countries and finding out what their systems are like.

Thanks so much for working with me today and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.