Ivan Milat Case Study Analysis

IS THIS CASE A TYPICAL REFLECTION OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM?

You could definitely say that this case is a typical reflection of our legal system but it shouldn't be. The trial was set down for June 1995; But Ivan Milat did not stand trial in June. In fact it was almost a year before the case came to court. Time and time management was a big issue in regards to this case, similarly this is the case with many other criminal cases that are heard in our legal system today.

In this case there was no specific party which was favoured the most by the criminal justice system. Advantages and disadvantages plus problems encountered were fairly evened up. There was a balance of individuals rights with society's rights.

The victims' family:

* TIME It took as much as 4 years [from 1992 when the bodies were first discovered to when Ivan Milat was sentenced in 1996] for the victims' family of this horrendous crime to get closure. 4 years is an extremely long time to wait for closure and a sense of justice. These delays in time have obviously increased trauma for the victims' family as the offender has still gone unpunished.

* KNOWLEDGE As all of the victims family were from overseas they most probably didn't have all the knowledge required about the Australian legal system that they should have had.

The perpetrator:

* TIME The big delay in time caused many media stirs. For this case the media pretty much had its mine made up that Ivan Milat was guilty of the crimes. This would have had a major influence on the trial; especially on the mind of the jurors.

Even though Milat was held in custody, in the end it didn't really make much difference as he was guilty of the crime. However if he was innocent it would be a whole different story.