ac2.5 the use of laypeople in criminal cases

Question 1

who are laypeople in the legal system

Answer 1

• ordinary members of the public
• dont have specialised or professional knowledge of the law or legal procedure
• serve as members of juries and as magistrates

Question 2

jurys role - selection

Answer 2

• jurors are randomly selected by computer from the names in the electoral register
• receive a summons to attend court
• service is usually for two weeks, can be longer

Question 3

jurys role - eligibility

Answer 3

• must be aged 18-75
• be a citizen of the UK, irish republic or a british commonwealth country
• have resided in the UK, the channel islands or the isle of man for five years

Question 4

jury’s role - disqualification

Answer 4

• those on bail
• those who have ever received a prison sentence of five years or more
• anyone who has received a shorter sentence is disqualified for 10 years

Question 5

jury’s role - exemption

Answer 5

• those selected are legally required to attend court
• possible to be excused on medical grounds

Question 6

strengths of the jury system - jury equity

Answer 6

• jurors are bound by what a law says or by prec
• free to decide a case based on what they feel is fair or morally right, regardless of the law or how the judge might direct them to apply it to a case

Question 7

strengths of the jury system - justice is seen to be done

Answer 7

• juries make the legal system more open
• justice can be seen to be done because it is ordinary members of the public who decide the outcome
• judge has to explain points of law to jury in open court, defendant and public at large able to understand the case more clearly

Question 8

strengths of the jury system - impartiality and a fairer trial

Answer 8

• believed that jury trials are fairer than being tried by a judge or magistrates
• being tried by your peers rather than a single judge or three magistrates who may be unable to relate to the circumstances or have prejudices
• being tried by a randomly selected cross-section of society makes it more likely that individual prejudices will be cancelled out and impartial jury created

Question 9

strengths of the jury system - secrecy

Answer 9

• jurors are protected from outside pressures and influences
• allows them to bring in verdicts that may be unpopular with the public
• allows them to exercise jury equity and bring in verdicts that ignore the strict letter of the law
• may also make people more willing to serve on a jury than if they knew their deliberations could be made public

Question 10

strengths of the jury system - public confidence and democracy

Answer 10

• jury is seen as a key element in a democratic society
• the right to be judged by one’s fellow citizens rather than by the state is essential in keeping the state’s power in check and preserving liberty
• right to be tried by one’s peers is very old and the public have confidence in its fairness and impartiality
• jury system is democratic behaviour as it allows ordinary citizens to become involved in the administration of justice, rather than leaving it all in the hands of the state

Question 11

weaknesses of the jury system - racial bias

Answer 11

• concern that jurors are racially biased and this may result in unjust verdicts
• MP David Lammy, verdicts delivered by juries do not appear to be influenced by the ethnicity of either the jurors or the defendant
• noted that BAME defendants are more likely than white defendants to opt for a jury trial at crown court

Question 12

example of racial bias - Kuldip Sander

Answer 12

• 1995, juror wrote to the judge pointing out that two other jurors had been making racial remarks and jokes
• judge allowed the trial to continue, European Court of Human Rights upheld Sander’s appeal that he had denied a fair trial, by which he had served three years in prison

Question 13

weakness of the jury system - media influence

Answer 13

• jurors may be influenced by media coverage of a case

Question 14

weakness of the jury system - fraud trials

Answer 14

• often involve complex technical evidence that jurors may struggle to understand
• cases can be very long, may require jurors to be away from their work for months
• long cases are more expensive for both prosecution and defence

Question 15

weakness of the jury system - jury tampering

Answer 15

• involves attempts to pervert the court of justice by bribing or intimidating jurors to acquit the defendant
• section 44 criminal justice act 2003, allows prosecution to apply for trial by a judge alone in cases where there has been an attempt to tamper with the jury

Question 16

weakness of the jury - high acquittal rates

Answer 16

• juries are sometimes criticised for acquitting too many defendants (about 60% pleading not guilty are acquitted in crown court)
• most of these are where the judge has dismissed the case without a jury being sworn in, or where the jury were directed to acquit by the judge
• of the remaining cases juries convict over 60%

Question 17

weakness of the jury - perverse decisions

Answer 17

• jury are free to ignore what they regard as unjust law, may lead to a perverse decision which goes against the facts of the case

Question 18

weakness of the jury - secrecy

Answer 18

• no reasons can be given for the verdict
• is no way of telling whether the jury understood the case and reached their verdict for the right reasons

Question 19

weakness of the jury - jurors and the internet

Answer 19

• criminal justice and courts act 2015 makes it an offence for jurors to search the internet for information relevant to the case and an offence to disclose such information to another juror
• judges instruct jurors not to research their cases on the internet

Question 20

the role of magistrates

Answer 20

• lay members of the public rather than legal professionals
• unpaid, part-time volunteers who are members of their local community
• sometimes referred to as Justices of the Peace
• receive training but are not legally qualified, assisted by a legally qualified clerk who advises them on law and procedure
• must be aged 18-65 when appointed, can serve up to the age of 70

Question 21

strengths of magistrates - democracy

Answer 21

• allows ordinary local citizens to become involved in the administration of justice

Question 22

strengths of magistrates - local knowledge

Answer 22

• magistrates serve in their local court, knowledge of the local area can be applied to cases and reflect local needs and priorities
• many magistrates’ courts have been closed in recent years, magistrates are now dealing with cases from further afield so they may lack local knowledge

Question 23

strengths of magistrates - representative of the population

Answer 23

• quite representative of the population in terms of gender and ethnicity
• 2019: 13% of magistrates from BAME backgrounds, 56% of magistrates were women

Question 24

strengths of magistrates - limited number of appeals