Legal Systems Comparison

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Liberty University *

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510

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Law

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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docx

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7

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Research Essay: Legal Systems Comparison JURI 510
Research Essay: Legal Systems Comparison Introduction For this assignment I will begin with comparing addressing 2 benefits of the legal system that the United States government follows, as well as 2 challenges. The legal systems of a nation vary with each country and sometimes even have variances within the same country (U.S. Department of Justice). In the United States, while the legal system within each state must adhere to the United States Constitution, there remains variances within the legal systems as there are variances within the legal systems of other countries. Each legal system is a response to the needs of the community, as Glenn stated “Legal traditions around the world consist of large amounts of information regarding human behavior” (Glenn, 2014). The legal systems within the United States encompass a combination of civil and common law that govern both the civilians, and the government and bring forth challenges, and benefits. One benefit of the United States legal system is the Bill of Rights because it was created to protect the constitution and grant individual rights to the people. However, a challenge lies within the Bill of Rights. In 1883, the United States Supreme Court decided that the Bill of Rights restricts only the power of the federal government, and not the state, (Barron v. Baltimore, 1833). The ruling effectively left the state governments to exercise the most power of the people (Monk, 2003). Moving on, another benefit to legal systems of the United States is that they have the power to adjust and be flexible according to the needs of the community in which they adjudicate. While certain federal guidelines must be followed, prosecutors have room to be lenient, (or harsh) in their cases, and judges have this ability as well. The flexibility afforded to judge, and prosecutors do present challenges because not all judges and prosecutors behave according to ABA Model Rules, and federal standards. Judicial misconduct does happen (Cicchini, 2019). To recap, the challenges to 2
the Legal system of the United States, in my opinion are 1: the Bill of Rights does not protect people from the state government and 2: judicial flexibility. Address 2 benefits of another legal system covered during this course, as well as 2 challenges of that legal system. Sharia : The Islamic Legal System Islamic law must be fair, merciful, and just, by order of the culture and traditions as set forth by the teachings in the Quran, Sunnah, and Hadith, as prophesized by the Prophet Muhammad (Robinson, 2021). This strict adherence to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed is a benefit to the Islamic Legal System because they also encompass a societal pressure on the people of Islam to behave kindly and follow the law. Another benefit to the Islamic Legal System is the strict enforcement of the laws. Unlike the legal systems within the United States, there is little room for flexibility with the Islamic Legal Systems, therefore, citizens are far less likely to break the laws and this control is especially observed in the Islamic youth culture (Yilmaz, 2022). Crime rates tends to be lower in Muslim populations and are an example of how effective the Islamic Legal System is at social control. Moving on to the challenges, with the lack of flexibility with the Islamic Legal Systems comes the impracticality of the Islamic Legal System when dealing with the modern world and its ever-changing needs. Specifically, the rights of women have been consistently undermined and women are often treated unfairly especially in cases of divorce and child custody (Buckley, 2020). The second challenge with the Islamic Legal System is that the system is known for its brutality (Hakim, 2020). Punishments include killing children, and killing women for having a child that was not born into wedlock. 3
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