In some countries, criminal trials are shown on television for the public.

IELTS/ PTE/TOEFL Writing Tasks, The Essay

Writing Task 2, Essay

The Essay Question:

In some countries, criminal trials are shown on television for the public. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Displaying court proceedings of criminal cases on television for the population at large, is a practice in few nations. Needless to say, there are positive and negative facets to this custome.

First, the people can have an insight of the legal process and appreciate the final judgement, when they view it on television. Even if the sentence is extreme, such as the death penalty, the common man would understand and there would be fewer chances of protests. For example, if the famous Nirbhaya killing case trials in India was shown on television, the people would know why it took 8 years to arrive at a judgement.

Second, the entire process of the criminal case and the judgement when aired on national television, would be a great boon to the law students and other legal professionals who would learn from viewing the same. All cases would be an open book for them, which they could record, refer, replay and research on, saving time, rather than going through voluminous textbooks. 

On the other hand, airing criminal proceedings in courts of law, is a sheer waste of television time since no one but the families of the concerned parties would be keen to follow the same. Additionally, the near and dear ones of the accused and the victim, are often present physically during the trial. Not many would be interested to know more, unless it is a high profile case, which is often published in the media.

To conclude, while the court trials of crimes are shown on television in some countries, according to me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, since there would be more transparency in the legal system amongst masses. Furthermore, the legal profession would gain by observing the proceedings.

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