Today we visited the Magistrates Court. The English Court system is very similar to the American Court system. The highest court is the Supreme Court, which has now been open for a year. Due to bomb threats, we were not allowed to visit the court. There is a high level raised of security since the Queen of England is visiting Ireland. I'm excited I had the privilege to be in Europe while the Queen makes a trip to Ireland. This experience is unique because it's the first time in decades since a Monarch has been to Ireland. Anyways on to process of the courts. There are three courts that fall under the criminal court. Those are court of appeal, crown court, and magistrates court. Courts of appeal, much like the United States court, only have appellate jurisdiction. The Crown Court has both appellate and original jurisdiction. Magistrates Courts only have original jurisdiction. Since we visited the Magistrates court I have a better understanding of the system. We were privileged to have Judge Eli Baker. He explained his role and the roles of the the court room players. All cases began in the Magistrates court and then can be sent up to higher courts. Then we sat in on a court case. Europeans use more of intermediate sanctions, which means they give out fines in lieu of jail. The case we saw was a man who had been charged with carrying cannabis. He had a prior record, he only received a 100 pound fine. Also instead of one Judge presiding over the court there was three. All in all that sums up my experience with the Magistrates Court. There will be no picture posted because yet again I was not allowed to take pictures. Tonight is the Jack the Ripper tour!!! I will post picture and a blog about that tomorrow.
Cheers,
Danielle
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pentonville Prison
The past two day's have been very informative. While writing by pre-departure papers I had a few questions dealing with the UK prison system. Mainly I was confused by the structure of the prisons. The prison we visited was Pentonville prison. I did NOT take any picture so I will up load a few from google to illustrate the scenery of the prisons.
While we did get a briefing on the prison, I will not explain that in order to not waste your time. If you want the historical information and details visit http://www.victorianlondon.org/prisons/pentonvilleprison.htm. Now I will talk about the things that seemed unique to me. First of all I will talk about the dress code of the prisoners. The prisoners are allowed to wear street clothes. Which seemed like a high privilege to have, for a prisoner. Along with wearing street clothes ,in my opinion, they have less of a harsh environment. After booking the prisoners are taken and sat an in electronic chair to check for metals. If metals are detected they are strip searched and asked to squat. They officers do not do body cavity searches. If the prisoners refuse they are kept in a separate cell, until they give up the object. Now they most unique thing about the structure was the bars in-between the different floors, as shown in the picture above. It was designed this way to prevent food from being thrown and prisoners from committing suicide. The guards carry different weapons then the American guards. They don't carry guns. Also they use a whistle to alert when a guard is in trouble. All in the prison tour was interesting, in my opinion the prison was less harsh on offenders than the ones in the United States.
Cheers,
Danielle
While we did get a briefing on the prison, I will not explain that in order to not waste your time. If you want the historical information and details visit http://www.victorianlondon.org/prisons/pentonvilleprison.htm. Now I will talk about the things that seemed unique to me. First of all I will talk about the dress code of the prisoners. The prisoners are allowed to wear street clothes. Which seemed like a high privilege to have, for a prisoner. Along with wearing street clothes ,in my opinion, they have less of a harsh environment. After booking the prisoners are taken and sat an in electronic chair to check for metals. If metals are detected they are strip searched and asked to squat. They officers do not do body cavity searches. If the prisoners refuse they are kept in a separate cell, until they give up the object. Now they most unique thing about the structure was the bars in-between the different floors, as shown in the picture above. It was designed this way to prevent food from being thrown and prisoners from committing suicide. The guards carry different weapons then the American guards. They don't carry guns. Also they use a whistle to alert when a guard is in trouble. All in the prison tour was interesting, in my opinion the prison was less harsh on offenders than the ones in the United States.
Cheers,
Danielle
Monday, May 16, 2011
Old Bailey
Hello!!!
Well this weekend was full of excitement!!! Shaylee, Bodell, Shawn, and myself went to the one and only Dublin Ireland. Ireland had so more foliage and the scent of cologne in the air--thus creating a very lush experience ;). Here are some pictures from our amazing trip!!
Anyways on to the educational part of the trip, today we visited the Ends of Court and Old Bailey. The Ends of Court are where 'Barristers' (lawyers) go to train. There is eight places in the UK , three of them being in London, for Barristers to train. While our system is based on common law there is some differences between our training of lawyers and their barristers. Not only do you have to score high on the test to get a law degree, but you have to eat twelve formal dinners. This seemed odd to me. Original reasons behind the twelve formal dinners is so that people would attend lectures. Now the reasoning behind that is based on tradition. Barrister also wear wigs, the wigs can are 500 Euros. Ruffly that is almost a thousand US dollars. Then we had the privilege to visit old Bailey. Old Bailey is a court house in London. I will not post picture of the site because it is a two year jail penalty to take picture of the court house--hence I did NOT take pictures. The court house was originally a jail and a court house. People as young as nine were hung at Old Bailey. The most odd thing about the courts was they don't hand cuff the prisoners. The court house is under the jurisdiction of the London police. The court was designed to impress it was marble and lavishly painted ceilings. The person who gave us the tour is a London Police officer gave us a rich historical lecture on Old Bailey. The thing that stuck with me the most was I got to touch the old Roman Walls..............Well that sums up our tour!!
Cheers,
Danielle
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| St. Paul Cathedral |
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| Raining in one of the parks |
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| Seafood Soup |
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| Inside the Cathedral |
Anyways on to the educational part of the trip, today we visited the Ends of Court and Old Bailey. The Ends of Court are where 'Barristers' (lawyers) go to train. There is eight places in the UK , three of them being in London, for Barristers to train. While our system is based on common law there is some differences between our training of lawyers and their barristers. Not only do you have to score high on the test to get a law degree, but you have to eat twelve formal dinners. This seemed odd to me. Original reasons behind the twelve formal dinners is so that people would attend lectures. Now the reasoning behind that is based on tradition. Barrister also wear wigs, the wigs can are 500 Euros. Ruffly that is almost a thousand US dollars. Then we had the privilege to visit old Bailey. Old Bailey is a court house in London. I will not post picture of the site because it is a two year jail penalty to take picture of the court house--hence I did NOT take pictures. The court house was originally a jail and a court house. People as young as nine were hung at Old Bailey. The most odd thing about the courts was they don't hand cuff the prisoners. The court house is under the jurisdiction of the London police. The court was designed to impress it was marble and lavishly painted ceilings. The person who gave us the tour is a London Police officer gave us a rich historical lecture on Old Bailey. The thing that stuck with me the most was I got to touch the old Roman Walls..............Well that sums up our tour!!Cheers,
Danielle
Central Communications
In every country there is crime, along with that there has to be a way to report crime. In Europe the number used is 999. That number responses to emergency calls. The call center is much like the U.S. county calling centers in terms of electronic use. The way it differed was in where the call the center is. In this country they have three major call centers. The agents dispatch the calls to emergency officer. There is a high population in London, in the millions. A number is going to be set up for non-emergency calls. After seeing the call center we went to Lambert. Lambert is a training center for officers. Some choose to participate in the training. It was unreal how effective the officers use the batons. Well, I fly out tomorrow for Ireland, so I will upload pictures and more information when I have more time.
Cheers,
Danielle
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
DONT MAKE ME SAY STOP AGAIN!!!
The Metropolitan Police Force is a key player in the policing system in England. This police force has over twenty thousand men and composes one third of the police force. Metropolitan Police Force is has jurisdiction over most of Greater London. Within the Metropolitan Police Force there is a head of the force. This figure head is known as the Commissioner of Police to the Metropolis. The Commissioner of Police to the Metropolis has a many roles to fill. This position entails executive direction of the force. Commissioners will also deal with appointments, promotion, and discipline of officers. The Commissioner of Police to the Metropolis office is housed in New Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard is the control center for police and detectives that fall in the jurisdiction of the Metropolis Police. Outside of the jurisdiction of the Metropolis Police is the City of London Police. City of London Police Force is smaller than the Metropolis Police force, with eleven hundred men. This unit is controlled by the Commissioner of the City of London Police.
Above are basic facts about the London Police Force. Now I will state the main and surprising difference between the two forces. The Metropolis Police don’t carry weapons like United States Police officers. They are ‘friendly police’, as said by our first tour guide. Carry guns are even of interest to some officers. They have a responsibility to not injure the public. Even if shots are fired they can be prosecuted for their actions. Two officers ,in a mistake of fact, shot one man and were in and out of court defending their actions for six years. Like the United States they have electronic finger printing which makes the process quicker. They also have kwik hand cuffs that making cuffing the criminal quicker.
I will post more tomorrow as I’m about to get kicked out of the cafe!!!Cheers,
Danielle
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Jet Lagg
While this should have been my first post, it was not. Yesterday we arrived far to late to blog. The airplane ride went well. I avoided motion sickness by sleeping the hole time. Upon arriving in London the first thing I notice was the foliage of the country site. It is very unlike Wyoming or any country side. The ground under the trees are almost spotless. It's as if they clean the fallen leaves and branches from under the trees. 
Upon arrival we went to Windsor to exchange some money and bought track phones.
Everything here is more expensive due to the fact we no longer follow the gold standard (thanks Nixon). The exchange rate is 1.7 Euros to American dollars.
Cheers,
Danielle
Upon arrival we went to Windsor to exchange some money and bought track phones.
Everything here is more expensive due to the fact we no longer follow the gold standard (thanks Nixon). The exchange rate is 1.7 Euros to American dollars.
Cheers,
Danielle
Looking Glass of History
Today we went to three places: Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, and Warwick Castle.
Oxford does not mirror a campus a like the United States. It is not merely one University but several combined under one rule. It's almost comparable to the United Kingdoms system of government. It compares to that system by one ruling system that separate colleges follow. It has several colleges under the jurisdiction of one University. To be exact there are 38 colleges.Each college has its own Governing Body, comprising the Head of House and a number of Fellows, most of whom also hold University posts. There are also six Permanent Private Halls, which were founded by various Christian denominations The application process is also different from the Unites Application process. First it's important to have an impressive application. That includes high academics in high school and on the entrance exam. After that you will interview with the colleges who select you. The interview are complicated to prepare for. The judges want you to set your self apart form the rest. One interview set judges newspapers on fire to 'entertain him'. He was ,oddly enough, excepted into the the University. Among the Universities we visited was Brasenose College.
This is among one of the four oldest Colleges in London
Our day then ended with our last Tour site Warwick Castle. Only sections of the Castle are available for the public to tour. Tour able part was a Victorian setting of scandal and affected personalities of the last family who lived there. Visit the foll wing website for more information: www.warwick-castle.com/plan-your-day/history.aspx -
Oxford does not mirror a campus a like the United States. It is not merely one University but several combined under one rule. It's almost comparable to the United Kingdoms system of government. It compares to that system by one ruling system that separate colleges follow. It has several colleges under the jurisdiction of one University. To be exact there are 38 colleges.Each college has its own Governing Body, comprising the Head of House and a number of Fellows, most of whom also hold University posts. There are also six Permanent Private Halls, which were founded by various Christian denominations The application process is also different from the Unites Application process. First it's important to have an impressive application. That includes high academics in high school and on the entrance exam. After that you will interview with the colleges who select you. The interview are complicated to prepare for. The judges want you to set your self apart form the rest. One interview set judges newspapers on fire to 'entertain him'. He was ,oddly enough, excepted into the the University. Among the Universities we visited was Brasenose College.
This is among one of the four oldest Colleges in London
Dinning hall.
While I could bore you with it's rich history here is a link two there website: http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-history-212/a-brief-history-of-brasenose-397.html
Then we departed for Stratford Upon Avon. Among my blond moments it's not a University, instead it's was home to a so to speak 'smart clock' of a man. William Shakespeare was born and lived in Avon Upon Stratford.
After visiting I have a new love for the man's myriad complex vocabulary. A normal person only used 2,000 words in speech. Shakespeare used 40,000. Our group was then privileged to walk upon the same floor as Shakespeare.
After visiting I have a new love for the man's myriad complex vocabulary. A normal person only used 2,000 words in speech. Shakespeare used 40,000. Our group was then privileged to walk upon the same floor as Shakespeare.
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Our day then ended with our last Tour site Warwick Castle. Only sections of the Castle are available for the public to tour. Tour able part was a Victorian setting of scandal and affected personalities of the last family who lived there. Visit the foll wing website for more information: www.warwick-castle.com/plan-your-day/history.aspx -
I could babble for hours about today. Due to the fact of the downloading capabilities of the Internet, these are not my personal pictures. I will upload some as soon as possible.
Cheers,
Danielle
Well I finally got back and as you can see uploaded pictures!!! I tried to only upload a few, I have six hundred. Looking at the above information I realized I left out some important information. Those question include how is this alike/different from the United States, or what I'm I feeling. I think I explained the differences for Oxford but not for the Castle. The United States is a young country compared to Britain. So the history is different in both countries. In American I don't know of any Castles you can go and tour that are that old. I've been to different forts in America i.e.-Fort Bridger and Laramie, but the Castle was used for longer and for royal families. One of the things I got to do was try some British food, I pick Cornish pastry. Above is a picture!!
Once again CHEERS!!
Danielle
Well I finally got back and as you can see uploaded pictures!!! I tried to only upload a few, I have six hundred. Looking at the above information I realized I left out some important information. Those question include how is this alike/different from the United States, or what I'm I feeling. I think I explained the differences for Oxford but not for the Castle. The United States is a young country compared to Britain. So the history is different in both countries. In American I don't know of any Castles you can go and tour that are that old. I've been to different forts in America i.e.-Fort Bridger and Laramie, but the Castle was used for longer and for royal families. One of the things I got to do was try some British food, I pick Cornish pastry. Above is a picture!!
Once again CHEERS!!
Danielle
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