The Counsel-Witness Battle of Identities on Cross-Examination at the High Court of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam

Antoni Keya

Abstract


This paper examines courtroom interactions between members of the juridical field and the laity who come in as witnesses, to identify the identity struggles and how these struggles are likely to affect adjudication. It analyses this struggle through examination of ethos. The results of identity struggles reveal counsel enjoying identity access and discourse resources to denounce the witness who has only the response move to operate from. The witness only flouts authoritative discourse not as much to denounce counsel’s ethos, but to protect himself. The study further shows that this struggle goes against the view of the law-society relationship that looks at the judiciary is a trustee of the rule of law, administering the law for the benefit of the entire community. Cross-examination has failed to become a process that is substantively just and humane. The layperson remains a
stranger in the courtroom.


Keywords: ethos, counsel, witness, social identity approach, identity struggle


Full Text:

PDF

References


Ashworth, A. (2005). Sentencing and Criminal Justice (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1987). The Force of Law: Toward a Sociology of the

Juridical Field. The Hastings Law Journal, 38: 805–853.

Bradford, V. (2004). Being Made Strange: Rhetoric beyond

Representation. State University of New York Press: Albany.

Burke, J. P. (2001). Relationships among Multiple Identities. For the

Indiana Conference on Identity Theory.

Casper, J. D., Tyler, T. & Fisher, B. (1988). Procedural Justice in

Felony Cases. Law & Society Review, 22(3): 483–508.

Cassels, A. (2003). Ideology and International Relations in the

Modern World, London: Routledge.

Cavallaro, D. (2007). Critical and Cultural Theory: Thematic

Variations, London and New Brunswick, NJ: The Athlone Press.

Doan, J. W. (2004). Degradation of Ethos in Adversarial Contexts.

Unpublished Dissertation, University of Michigan.

Evidence Act, Cap 6R.E.2002:154–155. Dar es Salaam: Government

Printers.

Freedgood, L. (2002). Voicing the Evidence: The Pragmatic Power of

Interpreters in Trial Testimony. Unpublished PhD Thesis,

Boston University.

Garfinkel, H. (1954). Conditions of Successful Degradation

Ceremonies. American Journal of Sociology, 61: 420–424.

Goffman, E. (1961). Encounters. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.

Goldman, A. I. (2005). Legal Evidence. In M. P. Golding & W. A.

Edmundson (eds.). The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of

Law and Legal Theory, Blackwell.

Magenau K. S. (2003). Jury Duty: Competing Legal Ideologies and

the Interactional Negotiation of Authority in Jury

Deliberation. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Georgetown University.

Moshman, D. (2011). Identity, Genocide, and Group Violence. In S. J.

Schwartz, K. Luyckx & V. L. Vignoles (eds.). Handbook of

Identity Theory and Research. Springer: London.

Kenny, S. (1999). Maintaining Public Confidence in the Judiciary: A

Precarious Equilibrium. Monash University Law Review,

(2): 209–224.

Sarat, A. & Felstiner, W. L. F. (1992). Enactments of Power:

Negotiating Reality and Responsibility in Lawyer-client

Interactions. Cornell Law Review, 17: 1447–1498.

Spears, R. (2011). Group Identities: The Social Identity Perspective.

In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx & V. L. Vignoles (eds.).

Handbook of Identity Theory and Research. London: Springer.

Vignoles, V. L. (2011). Identity Motives. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx

& V. L. Vignoles (eds.). Handbook of Identity Theory and

Research. Springer: London.

Vignoles, V. L., Schwartz, S. J. & Luyckx, K. (2011). Toward an

Integrative View of Identity. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx &

V. L. Vignoles (eds.). Handbook of Identity Theory and

Research. Springer: London.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice, Learning, Meaning and

Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 [ISSN 0856-9965 (Print)]