The judiciary in each legal state has a crucial function - it monitors the strict implementation of laws and administers justice. The main form of the latter is litigation.
In the legal literature, litigation refers to the system-forming part of the civil process, aimed at comprehensive consideration and fair resolution by a judge of a dispute about the rights of the parties.
However, it should be remembered that the term "trial" can be understood in two ways. Firstly, from the point of view of its orientation, this process is a completely independent function of the legal proceedings, and secondly, the court in the proceedings of a civil case has the right and obligation to apply all available standards to make a fair decision.
Judicial proceedings in civil proceedings, from the point of view of legal practice, should fulfill the task of identifying the party to the dispute that in this situation has acted in accordance with applicable law. In addition, often the judge must explain to the citizen his rights at a particular time in order to eliminate the legal ambiguity that has arisen in his legal relation. In this regard, the trial is absolutely accessible for every citizen, moreover, the judge begins any process by providing the warring parties to resolve the dispute on their own, without resorting to the help of a third party.
Any trial should be carried out as quickly as possible, without significant costs for the disputing parties, as well as for the court itself. At the same time, the judge in this process has an important function of the organizer and arbiter of fate, who must strictly adhere exclusively to the letter of the law.
In practice, the following stages of the trial are distinguished:
1. The stage of the judicial investigation, which includes the presentation of evidence by both parties, including the demonstration of documents and the interview of witnesses. This stage ends with the opportunity for the plaintiff or for the defendant to make an addition, that is, to provide evidence that was not voiced during the investigation.
2. Judicial debate: the prosecution, the victim, the defense and the defendant, who try to interpret the facts presented in the light they need, alternate. After each performance, the opposite side has the opportunity to respond, that is, to explain certain phrases of rivals.
3. The last word of each of the defendants, in which they can once again draw the attention of the judge to certain aspects, including once again declare their innocence, or ask for a mitigation of the sentence, referring to certain circumstances.
4. The imposition and announcement of the verdict. The verdict may not be announced if the judge could not, on the basis of the above facts, draw up a picture of what happened for himself. In this case, the case will be sent for additional investigation.
Thus, litigation is a complex process aimed solely at establishing the truth in a particular legal dispute.