In this module, a number of key public policy issues surrounding civil and criminal justice administration is examined. These issues include jury trial and its decline; the prominence of guilty pleas in the administration of criminal justice; the reform of the legal aid system; the lay magistracy; citizens¿ access to justice and to the courts; the role of tribunals; the costs of civil justice and the expansion of small claims. The focus is upon the way that legal institutions and legal processes operate in practice rather than upon so-called black letter law. Particular attention is therefore paid to the available empirical research evidence.