a) Explain the division of responsibility between the judge and jury. What happens to the distinct judge and jury functions in a judge-only trial

b) In a murder trial with identity in issue, the prosecution relies upon evidence that the defendant confessed to police, told them where the murder weapon was, and that the murder weapon was found there with the defendant's fingerprints on it. The defence objects on the basis that the defendant only gave the police this information under extreme duress. Explain how s 189 would apply to this case, and the reasoning behind the s 189 procedure.

c) Identify the (possible) relevance of this evidence, any hearsay issues, and any other evidence issues. Highlight any additional evidential or factual enquiries that the relevance enquiry may give rise to. (Note we may be learning about additional rules that engage with these facts in the coming weeks that you are not expected to know yet!)

Fred has been charged with the murder of his wife, Deborah, whose body was found 14 days after he reported her missing from the family home. The Crown wishes to adduce evidence of the following facts:

1) Fred has been in financial difficulties and having an affair with a co-worker.

2) Fred's neighbour, William, will testify that the morning after Deborah went missing, he observed Fred thoroughly cleaning his kitchen, before reporting Deborah missing to the police.

3) A trace of blood matching Deborah's blood type was found on the floor of the kitchen under the fridge.

(d)Why is the trial described as 'adversarial'? Identify several features of evidence law/trial procedure that display the trial's adversarial nature.

(e)How does the adversarial trial advance the goal of factual accuracy? How does the adversarial trial inhibit the goal of factual accuracy?

(f)To the extent that factual accuracy is inhibited by the rules of evidence, what is the rationale? What other goals might the system be pursuing?