The O.J. Inquisition: A United States Encounter With Continental Criminal Justice

October 3, 1995 marked the end of the O.J. Simpson double murder trial, which lasted 474 days and was billed "the trial of the century." After less than four hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Mr. Simpson of all charges. The following article is a dramatization of how a case similar to the Simpson trial might be handled by a civil-law European criminal justice system. Utilizing an unusual format, Professor Myron Moskovitz examines and illustrates the differences between the United States and civil-law European criminal justice systems. The author uses a play script inspired by the events in the trial of O.J. Simpson, set before a European Court.

The script consists of fictitious conversations among a fictitious prosecutor, defense attorney, officers of a mock European Court, and two professors. The dialogue illustrates the differences between the two legal systems and the historical and sociological premises that inform them.