ABSTRACT
Legal trials can perform a variety of functions. In civil law, trials provide an avenue for citizens to seek compensation for harms done to them. In criminal law, the trial is the mechanism by which the state calls on those accused of wrongdoing to answer the charges brought against them. For defendants, the trial (at least in principle) offers a fair, impartial venue in which they can face their accusers and seek to clear their name. For victims or other members of the community, it can provide a forum in which they can see justice being served. And trials of either sort can contribute (for better or worse) to reinforcing the power of the state.
