Synonym of 'kangaroo court'

Question

From legal-dictionary.com, kangaroo court is defined as such:

[Slang of U.S. origin.] An unfair, biased, or hasty judicial proceeding that ends in a harsh punishment; an unauthorized trial conducted by individuals who have taken the law into their own hands, such as those put on by vigilantes or prison inmates; a proceeding and its leaders who are considered sham, corrupt, and without regard for the law.

What are some other terms or phrases that could be synonyms of 'kangaroo court'? I was thinking that in Gulliver's Travels there were parts where Gulliver found himself at the mercy of such "kangaroo courts" and knowing how Swift describes things with such phrases, I thought I could find a synonym of it but haven't been able to.

Answer 1

A show trial is one in which the outcome has already been decided, meaning that the trial itself is merely carried out "for show", either to feign legitimacy, or intimidate others, or both.

Another phrase that might be relevant in some cases is witch hunt. Originally this literally meant to search for witches, i.e. people who engaged in witchcraft. Those accused would be put on trial in what was essentially a kangaroo court. In modern usage, the phrase has come to be used metaphorically for any similar biased proceedings, such as those of McCarthyism.

Answer 2

The original kangaroo court was the Star Chamber in particular under the Tudors and Stuarts.

In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. This is a pejorative term and intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings. ... the historical abuses of the Star Chamber are considered a primary motivating force behind the protections against compelled self-incrimination embodied in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Answer 3

A couple more general ideas, that meet the single word tag:

The trial was a charade

noun

noun: charade; plural noun: charades

an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.

"talk of unity was nothing more than a charade"

synonyms: farce, pantomime, travesty, mockery, parody, pretense, act, masquerade

"our entire relationship is a charade"

Of the synonyms listed above, I would say calling a trial or court hearing a travesty, pantomime, mockery, or pretense also expresses similar contempt or dubiousness with coming from a slightly different angle.

Answer 4

More generally, you might say the trial was a farce or farcical.

farce (n) : an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation
<the trial became a farce>

[Merriam-Webster Online]

I believe this emphasizes the pre-determined nature of kangaroo courts, connoting theater, rather than the brutality associated with such proceedings. If you'd like to emphasize the latter, some other word might be a better choice.

Answer 5

If the proceeding is merely an excuse to rush the accused to execution, it could be called a lynch mob.

a group of people who condemn and punish a person without a fair trial:

He claimed that they had been the victims of a racist lynch mob.

It also can be used metaphorically

a group of people who criticize someone severely and try to bring about the person's downfall:

Something approaching a lynch mob has been gathering against the Chancellor for even daring to consider higher interest rates.

It is in the public interest that sleaze is exposed. But it's time to call off the lynch mob.

Collins

Answer 6

A thesaurus lists

impromptu court

and

mock court

A quick google shows that impromptu court does not have a well-known definition, other than the relation to kangaroo court.

Answer 7

Consider Parody of justice (or "travesty/mockery/miscarriages of justice")

Example: After a trial before a special commission which was a parody of justice - the accused was not permitted to have any legal assistance or the use of writing materials - he was condemned to decapitation and promptly executed.

Answer 8

I think "show trial" is probably your best bet.

Another possibility is "drumhead trial". This comes from a "drumhead court-martial". By itself, "drumhead" is an adjective. From dictionary.com:

adjective 3. characteristic of a drumhead court-martial; carried out in summary fashion: a drumhead execution

From the Oxford Dictionaries Online:

Carried out by or as if by an army in the field; improvised or summary: a drumhead court-martial

I always think of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Drumhead.

Answer 9

In the UK I have heard occasionally juryless trials being described as kangaroo courts by the defendants or their supporters.

Here such juryless trials are however only used for specific cases of complex fraud and or where the authorities think there is danger of jury tampering.

I am not saying these are actually kangaroo courts but defendants have used the term.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Justice_Act_2003#Trials_without_a_jury

Answer 10

Officially: "Fraud on The Court":

Fraud on the court occurs when the judicial machinery itself has been tainted, such as when an attorney, who is an officer of the court, is involved in the perpetration of a fraud or makes material misrepresentations to the court. Fraud upon the court makes void the orders and judgments of that court.

Fraud upon the court is fraud which is directed to the judicial machinery itself... thus where the impartial functions of the court have been directly corrupted."

[USLegal.com]

http://foundationfortruthinlaw.org/fraud-on-the-court.html

Slang: "circus" is common use.