What role does the judiciary play in a legal system?
The judiciary, essentially the court system, is all about interpreting the law. Think of laws as written rules, but sometimes those rules aren't crystal clear in every situation. That's where judges and courts come in. Their main job isn't to make laws – that's Parliament's role – or to enforce them directly like the police. Instead, they carefully examine laws and apply them to specific cases. This involves understanding what the law *means* and how it should be applied in a particular context. For example, if a new law is passed about online privacy, the judiciary might have to decide how that law applies to social media companies or individual users. While juries are involved in some court cases, and courts do sentence people to prison, these are consequences of the judiciary's primary role: interpreting the law and ensuring it's applied fairly. So, while the other options are related to the legal system, they aren't the core function of the judiciary itself.
Think of the judiciary as a compass, interpreting and guiding the application of the law.