RETHINKING CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS: COMPARATIVE INSIGHTS FROM ACCUSATORIAL, INQUISITORIAL, AND BI-JUDICIAL SYSTEMS

The article is a comparative analysis of the primary models of criminal justice systems: the accusatorial model of criminal justice, the inquisitorial model of criminal justice, and the bi-judicial model of criminal justice. By way of case study of South Africa, Germany, and Scotland, the article examines the rules of procedure that regulate criminal trial procedures of adults in the jurisdictions of these countries. While examining the theoretical bases of the respective systems and their practical manifestations in working methods of the judiciary officials, standards of evidence, and procedure safeguards, the article critically examines the hybridization of the systems in practice in jurisdictions that had traditionally been linked to only one model of criminal justice. In that way, the article dissects strict categorization and ensures the plasticity of criminal justice processes. From the research comes the fact that each jurisdiction tends to be predominantly located in one model of procedure yet has infusions of the other models to ensure fairness, efficiency, and justice. This work contributes to criminal procedure reform debate in that it furnishes information on the way competing interests in the administration of justice are reconciled in various legal traditions.