In this project, we learnt about the principles of justice that uphold Australia’s legal system, such as the presumption of innocence, an impartial judiciary, and the right to legal representation. I studied the case of Gene Gibson, and analysed how these principles were both upheld and violated in this case. After writing an essay on the topic, we were required to incorporate feedback and edit the essay so that it was fit for online publication. This essay is the end result of that editing process. It demonstrates my ability to take feedback, and to refine a piece of written work to produce a professional result. Here it is:
Our legal system in Australia seeks to achieve justice for every person that goes through the legal process. Justice is a key concept in Australia and in the legal systems of many other countries. We use many Principles of Justice to evaluate the extent to which justice was shown and to guide us toward being just. There are many Principles of Justice, but in Mr Gibson’s case some of the most important are, “Equal treatment before the law”, “Right to silence”, “Role of precedent “, “Right to appeal”, “Burden and standard of proof”. These principles help us decide to what extent justice was shown and how we can be just in our legal system.
Gene Gibson is an aboriginal man from the Punjabi tribe who was accused of the murder of Josh Warneke. Mr Warneke was killed by an iron bar to the head just outside of Broome in 2010. Gene was sent to jail for several years. During this time there was an appeal whereby they found there were many flaws in the Principles of Justice in his case.
Equal Treatment before the Law. Equal treatment before the law is one of the largest principles of justice and means that everyone has the right to be trialed fairly no matter what; Race, Gender, Cognitive Ability, Religion, etc. Everyone is treated in the exact same manner. Equal treatment before the law is such a crucial principle because it ensures that everyone feels safe in court and that they are being given the same consideration as everyone else. In Gene’s case ,Equal Treatment before the Law was not shown, with Gene being discriminated against for many reasons. Gene was mainly discriminated against and not shown Equal treatment before the Law due to him being aboriginal, speaking little to no english and because of his cognitive ability. Gene had some sort of cognitive disability and this in combination with his lack of knowledge of the English language led to him not understanding why he was accused. He was unable to understand the court process and this led him to be convinced by his lawyer to plead guilty when he could have pleaded not guilty, won the case, and saved several years of his being in jail.
Right to Silence. Right to silence is the right to not have to say anything to the media or other people about the circumstances of the case. It means not having to have an interview, and to be able to stay silent for most of the case if desired, excluding having to say your name. This principle is crucial during the trial and in the investigation as it allows people to choose what they wish to disclose. This assists them to not get exploited for evidence against them and to keep their privacy. Mr Gibson was not shown Right to Silence. Mr Gibson was forced to have an interview with police where the attending officers took advantage of his lack of English and cognitive ability, as well as beating him to get him to say certain things which they then used as evidence against him. If Gene had been shown Right to Silence there would have been little to no evidence against him, most likely causing him to win the case.
Another very important principle is Role of Precedent. Role of Precedent means that judges are obligated when coming to a decision about a sentence to pay proper respect and thought to past judicial decisions. This means that sometimes in cases of similar topic and reasoning, a judge may have to apply the reasoning of past judges or follow past decisions. This is extremely important in Australia’s Legal System as it guarantees that your sentence is fair compared to others and no one gets an unreasonable sentence simply because of a particular judge. In Genes Case, Role of Precedent was not shown. Genes lawyer negotiated with the judge to change the death of Josh Warneke to manslaughter instead of murder if Gibson pleaded guilty. This was unfair to Gene, Josh Warneke”s family, or past people with cases of similar topic. Due to this, Gene was convinced by his lawyer to plead guilty which caused him several years in jail. This is also unfair to past people with similar cases since even though this did not resolve well for Gene this could’ve saved other people time in prison as they weren’t granted this privilege.
Right to Appeal. Right to Appeal is the Right for all who go to court and are trialed to appeal, this means that if the accused feels that the decision made by the original judge was wrong or unfair, they can call a panel of 3 judges and go to a higher court. If the appellant convinces the judges, they will agree to an error being made and decide that the decision should be reversed. This is important as sometimes judges make wrong decisions or ever so often do not show Equal Treatment before the Law or one of the other principles and as such make an unfair decision. Right to Appeal was one of the few Principles of Justice to be shown in Mr Gibson’s Case, and this appeal allowed it to highlight the flaws in his previous case and he was subsequently proven not guilty and set free.
Burden and Standard of Proof. Burden and Standard of Proof is a key Principle of Justice which means that the evidence and proof given needs to prove the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt and ensures that the evidence is reliable and true. This is so important as it prevents aspects such as those seen in Gene’s case (where the evidence was forged) and prevents people potentially being convicted for no reason. Mr Gibson’s case is very interesting when it comes to Burden and Standard of Proof, as technically it was shown. Gene’s evidence against him was very obviously faked and forged, however since Gene pleaded guilty this meant that the evidence was not needed and as a result Gene was imprisoned. This means that Burden and Standard of Proof was shown even though the evidence was forged.
Overall Mr Gibson was re-trialed and the flaws in his case were revealed. He was set free on the 12th of April 2017 and later sued and was rewarded with $1.3 Million Dollars to compensate his years wrongly spent in prison. In Genes case the extent of Justice shown was very minimal. He was taken advantage of due to many flawed aspects of the legal system. These could’ve been avoided by Mr Gibson getting a better lawyer who was willing and able to work with him to try and speak up as best as he could with allowances made for his capabilities. Gene was shown a very minimal extent of justice though, which demonstrates that although the system aims for justice, there are still flaws.
