This book outlines key aspects of the use of non-adversarial practices in the Australian justice system with reference to similar developments in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It examines in detail non-adversarial theories and practices such as therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice, preventive law, creative problem solving, holistic law, appropriate or alternative dispute resolution, collaborative law, problem-oriented courts, diversion programs, indigenous courts, coroners courts and managerial and administrative procedures.

This book outlines key aspects of a growing trend within the Australian, United States, Canadian, New Zealand, United Kingdom and other legal systems towards the use of non-adversarial justice.It examines in detail non-adversarial theories and practices such as therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice, preventive law, creative problem solving, holistic law, appropriate or alternative dispute resolution, collaborative law, problem-oriented courts, diversion programs, indigenous courts, coroners courts and managerial and administrative procedures.It identifies the common themes, values and principles that bring these disparate theories and practices together and explicates them for practitioners, courts and students. It examines the implications of these changes on legal practice, the courts and legal education.

The growth, development and institutionalisation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes in Australia have paved the way for a changing legal culture. Whilst the adversarial process underpins the Australian legal system, the theory and practice of ADR has allowed a broadening of attitudes towards conflict resolution. In Victoria, collaborative rather than adversarial approaches to justice have been put into practice in 'problem-solving courts'. This development evidences an institutional shift from adversarial justice towards the greater inclusion of non-adversarial dispute resolution processes. Contemporary best practice lawyering demands recognition and acceptance of this change. Legal educators and regulators must also act on the new reality of lawyering.

America is a nation founded on justice and the rule of law. But our laws are too complex, and legal advice too expensive, for poor and even middle-class Americans to get help and vindicate their rights. Criminal defendants facing jail time may receive an appointed lawyer who is juggling hundreds of cases and immediately urges them to plead guilty. Civil litigants are even worse off; usually, they get no help at all navigating the maze of technical procedures and rules. The same is true of those seeking legal advice, like planning a will or negotiating an employment contract. Rebooting Justice presents a novel response to longstanding problems. The answer is to use technology and procedural innovation to simplify and change the process itself. In the civil and criminal courts where ordinary Americans appear the most, we should streamline complex procedures and assume that parties will not have a lawyer, rather than the other way around. We need a cheaper, simpler, faster justice system to control costs. We cannot untie the Gordian knot by adding more strands of rope; we need to cut it, to simplify it.

Our adversarial legal system is used to evade the truth and makes winning the paramount goal. Here, a law veteran proposes we shift to an inquisitorial system seeking the truth, and recommends changes to evidentiary rules that confuse law enforcement and juries alike.

True Crime/Law/Current Affairs/Political Science and Government Provocation Sparkman use thought-provoking cases to illustrate the failures of a trial system we revere only because we have been told it is the best in the world — a system we have been too arrogant to question. Charley “I won’t leave any witnesses next time.” Charley stated after being sentenced to ten years for the rape of three women. He subsequently pulled just over two years. Dwayne I asked Dwayne when he would stop committing crimes. He smiled his warm smile and replied. “When I’m dead.” Myth America has the greatest and fairest legal system conceived by the mind of man. Truth America has a trial system that cannot control crime and has legal services that are too complex and too expensive. More Truth We have a large legal profession — criminal defense lawyers — who labor to return drunk drivers to our streets, burglars to our homes, and child molesters to our neighborhoods. Revelation It works! We have the highest crime rate in the world with no apparent remedy other than surrendering our rights and building a police state. Solution Scrap our trial system and build a new one, effecting the most fundamental change in American government since 1789. Read Failed Justice, then send it to our leaders.