Criminal Justice System in Action: The Adversarial System

The system of criminal procedure primarily utilized in the United States is the adversarial system. The term “adversary” is easily interpreted to mean opposition. Our present criminal procedure pits two sides against each other to present their respective evidence and issues surrounding a criminal act. This paper will address the adversarial system and its expressed use in criminal court proceedings in the United States. Among the questions this paper will take into consideration are: Is the adversarial system the best way to achieve justice in the criminal courts of the United States; what those limitations are; how those limitations deliver justice; alternatives to the adversarial system; and the advantages or disadvantages of those alternative.

Achieving Justice
When confronted with the issue of the best method to achieving justice in criminal court proceedings, one must understand what the adversarial system entails.