The primary purpose of the judicial system is to obtain the truth and enforce laws, statutes, and regulations created by the government. However, some argue that some legal procedures in some countries are not as efficient as in others in finding the truth about what really happened. The two systems that are constantly analyzed are the adversarial procedure and the inquisitorial one which both have supporters and criticisms, advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the main purpose of the essay will be to demonstrate how the legal systems available in some countries are sometimes insufficient in finding the truth of cases and subsequently lead to miscarriages of justice. The essay will do this by focusing on showing a brief history of the development of the current British legal system. Second, compare and contrast the adversarial and inquisitorial systems. Furthermore, it shows the advantages and disadvantages of these procedures by focusing on four main areas: the legal representatives, the police, the judges and finally the defendant. Finally, the article will conclude by answering the question of whether the adversarial nature of trials provides an effective means of getting to the truth about what happened. The legal system during the medieval era was not as sophisticated or as attentive to human rights as the justice system is today. Furthermore, Hosteller (2008, p. 9) reports that in cases of treason and crime the accused were not allowed to have legal counsel present to support them. He further goes on to state that during this period many trials were trials by ordeal where a person was likely to be killed or tortured in a brutal manner, such as a trial by fire, water, or battle. However, these forms of......middle of paper......ice: the history and origins of the adversary process. Winchester: Waterside Press.Malleson, K. (2007). The legal system. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Dammer, H. R. (2013). Comparative criminal justice systems. UK: Cengage Learning.Doak, J. and McGourlay, C. (20120. Evidence in Context. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.Newburn, T. (2009). Key Readings in Criminology. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.Smith, CE (2003). Courts and trials: a reference manual Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.Holt, R. (4 June 2010) The Telegraph crime/7795117/The-Guildford-Four-in-the-name-of-justice .html [Accessed 10 December 2013]Human Rights Act 1998 [online]. uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/enacted[Accessed 13 December]. 2013]