In Australia, we use the principles of justice to make our legal system fair. Without the principles, our courtroom can become very unfair, and we can falsely accuse someone of a crime they did not commit. Some principles that can help the courtroom be fair are the presumption of innocence, right to an appeal, a fair trial, trial by media, thorough police investigation, and high-quality evidence. In 1982 3 brothers were accused of robbing The Perth Mint. They were accused of stealing over $500,000 worth of gold. They were arrested while the brothers were protesting their innocence all the time. After a while, the truth came out. Many principles of justice were compromised. The 3 I will be talking about are the presumption of innocence, right to an appeal, and right to a fair trial.

The presumption of innocence means that the prosecution must prove that the defendant is guilty. The prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. This is important so the accused aren’t  convicted falsely and imprisoned for something they didn’t commit. For example, in the Mickelberg case the police were convinced it was the brothers and wanted it to be them so bad they had faked their confession and statement. 2 years before the crime the brothers had produced a fake nugget and sold it for twice its value which is why the police wanted them in prison even more. 2 police officers confessed to beating Ray Mickelberg up so he would sign the confession. The only evidence they had was a cheque that had Brian’s fingerprints on them. On the other hand, the brother didn’t get a major punishment for the previous crime, but a punishment was added to their conviction in 1983. These examples demonstrate that the presumption of innocence was compromised.

The right to a fair trial means that both parties are allowed to argue their cases equally. Both parties are allowed to argue their cases equally, so no one is falsely accused and falsely imprisoned. When a trial isn’t fair it is very easy to be falsely accused which is shown in the Mickelberg case. The trial was very unfair as the police had faked the statement and record of the interview, but the brothers were still accused guilty. As said in the previous paragraph the police officers used violence to get Ray Mickelberg to confess, faked the statement, and faked the record of the interview. The judge is shown to trust police officers more than the accused because police officers are trusted to make citizens feel safe and protect them. The police had presented their evidence to the judge which seemed real. This had helped the brothers be falsely imprisoned. These examples demonstrate that the right to a fair trial was compromised.

The right to an appeals are when the accused make an urgent request for something that is necessary or desired. Appeals are important because it gives the accused another change at freedom or deducing their sentence. In the Mickelberg case, the brothers embarked on 8 different appeals against their convictions saying the police had fabricated the evidence. The first 7 appeals were passed on until they embarked on an eighth one, which went through. Their eighth appeal was upheld in the Western Australia’s Supreme court  of criminal appeals. As the brothers entered prison they were protesting their innocence to try and get released. After 8 years Peter was released, Ray was released after 6 years and Brian was released on parole after 9 months. These examples demonstrate that the right to a reasonable appeal was compromised.

In conclusion, the principles in the Mickelberg brothers case were both compromised and supported, including the presumption of innocence, right to an appeal, a fair trial, trial by media, thorough police investigation, and high-quality evidence. The principles of justice help keep our legal system and courtroom safe. Without the principles, our courtroom can become very unfair, and we can falsely accuse someone of a crime they did not commit and people like the Mickelberg brothers could be falsely prisoned.