Criminal Courts: Juries

Question 1

What does s1 of the Juries Act 1974 (amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003) say the eligibility criteria is for jury service?

Answer 1

1) Must be between 18 and 75 years old

2) Must have been a UK resident for at least 5 years consecutively since 13th birthday

3) Must be on the electoral register

Question 2

Who is unfit for jury service?

Answer 2

-Mentally disordered people which includes any mental disorder under the Mental Health Act 1983.

-People who are incapable- they have a physical disablity like deafness or blindness.

Question 3

Who does s1 of the Juries Act 1974 (amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003) disqualify from serving as a juror?

Answer 3

People with certain criminal convictions. Disqualification is permanent if the offender is serving a life sentence or has ever been sentenced to a prison sentence of 5 years or more. Temporary disqualification applies to those on bail who are disqualified for the duration of their bail or is 10 years for an offender who has been given a prison sentence of less than 5 years or is given a community order.

Question 4

Which section of the Juries Act 1974 allows for an excusal or deferral which means the service is cancelled or moved to a more convenient time and what must be given?

Answer 4

S9 of the Juries Act 1974.
A good reason must be given like religious holidays, exams, work commitments, childcare commitments, holidays etc.

Question 5

How are names selected for jury service?

Answer 5

It is done at random by a computer from the Electoral Register.

Question 6

What is the process of summoming jurors?

Answer 6

After the names are selected, summons are sent to those people. Those people must notify the court if there is any reason they can or can’t do jury service. Those summoned will be expected to attend for a minimum of 2 weeks although if a trial is expected to last longer than this, jurors will be asked if they can serve.

Question 7

What does vetting mean and what types of vetting are there?

Answer 7

Checking potential jurors for their suitability.

1) Police checks- these ensure no potential juror is disqualified from having previous convictions.

2) Wider background checks into a juror’s political affiliations- this can only be done in exceptional circumstances like in terrorist cases or cases involving national security. The Attorney General must give express permission for this.

Question 8

What happens to the 15 jurors who get called into a trial?

Answer 8

The court clerk selects 12 of them at random and then the Prosecution and the Defence have the chance to challenge the jury.

Question 9

What is challenging the whole jury and why would it be done?

Answer 9

It can be done by both Prosecution and Defence and is called a ‘challenge to the array’. This is because the jury is unrepresentative or selected in a bias way. e.g. R v Fraser where D was from ethnic minority and jury were all white. Or Romford jury where 9 of 12 jurors were from the same street.

Question 10

What is challenging an individual juror and why would it be done?

Answer 10

It can be done by both Prosecution and Defence and is called ‘challenge for cause’. This is because the juror is disqualified or may know someone is the case. e.g. R v Wilson and Sprason where a juror was the wife of the prison officer overseeing Vs.

Question 11

How else can the Prosecution challenge the jury?

Answer 11

They can ask a juror to ‘stand by for the Crown’ which means that juror will only be used if there is no-one else. No reason is needed and they can do this to up to 3 jurors.

Question 12

What are the advantages of juries?

Answer 12

-Public confidence

-Jury equity

-Secrecy

-Impartial and diverse

Question 13

Explain the advantage of public confidence.

Answer 13

It is a trial by peers- jury are representative of society and D so it is very democratic. They also have a wider breadth of knowledge and have different experiences to a judge and D can also challenge to the array if the jury are unrepresentative like in R v Fraser. A survey by the Law Society said that 80% of those asked would trust a jury more than a judge of magistrates and Lord Devlin referred to the jury as a ‘little Parliament’. Therefore it shows support and agreement with the justice system, leading to public respect for the law.

Question 14

Explain the advantage of jury equity.

Answer 14

Jurors can decide the verdict according to what they think is morally right and wrong, they don’t have to follow the law if they think it’s unfair. In R v Owen, the jury sympathised with D’s situation and thought he had been punished enough already so acquitted him despite overwhelming evidence he was guilty. This means juries can make fair and just decisions where a judge would have to follow the law strictly even if it would lead to a bad decision that the public wouldn’t respect.

Question 15

Explain the advantage of secrecy.

Answer 15

Contempt of Court Act 1981 makes it an offence to share discussions in the jury room and a juror received a prison sentence for doing this in Attorney General v Fraill. Bushell’s case says jurors also don’t have to give reasons for their decisions. Research shows that jurors do take their role and the standard of proof seriously, shown by acquittal rates of 60% in the Crown Court. If discussions were made public, jurors may may not be open and honest with their thoughts and feel pressured into a decision. Less people would want to serve as a juror as well if they thought they would be judged for a verdict. Therefore, secrecy leads to fair verdicts as jury members aren’t pressured into decisions.

Question 16

Explain the advantage of impartiality and diversity

Answer 16

The jury are chosen randomly from the electoral register so there is a wide range of people from different backgrounds. There are 12 of them so any biases shouldn’t have a major impact on the verdict and if they know anyone involved in the case, they aren’t allowed to sit, like in R v Wilson and Sprason. R v Fraser where the jury was deemed unrepresentative as it wasn’t diverse enough (challenge to the array). This means the jury is representative of society and impartial so the verdict will be a fair representation of what society wants and justice will therefore be achieved

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of juries?

Answer 17

-Perverse decisions

-Influence of modern technology

-Secrecy

-Jury service can be unpopular

Question 18

Explain the disadvantage of perverse decisions.

Answer 18

Jury can ignore the law and evidence and base their decision on their conscience. Or they might not understand the case as they are lay people with no legal training as seen in the Vicky Pryce case where the jury asked the judge stupid questions and had to be dismissed. For example in R v Owen where D was definitely guilty but allowed to go free because the jury felt bad for him. This defeats the point of the law as the jury can just ignore it whenever they want. This could deny D the right to a fair trial which is a human right.

Question 19

Explain the disadvantage of the influence of modern technology.

Answer 19

Information about cases and defendants is widely available on the internet and may even be discussed on social networking sites. In 2010, 12% of jurors in high profile cases admitted to using the internet. This was the problem in AG v Dallas and has led to the Criminal Courts and Justice Act 2015. It is hard to stop the jury from using the internet at home even with this new Act so information on the internet may prejudice jurors and go against their oath or affirmation.

Question 20

Explain the disadvantage of secrecy.

Answer 20

Contempt of Court Act 1981 makes it an offence to share discussions in the jury room and the jury also don’t need to reveal reasons for their decisions (Bushell’s case). In R v Young, the jury used a ouija board to ask V who the killer was and then found D guilty based on this rather than any evidence in court. This means secrecy can be bad as we can’t tell if the jury are actually using the evidence to make a decision as per the oath or affirmation or are using random information or prejudices.

Question 21

Explain the disadvantage of jury service being unpopular.

Answer 21

As jury service is compulsory, this makes it unpopular with some people, especially self-employed people who may experience a loss of earnings due to their jury service. Jury service can also put a strain on jurors who have to listen to horrific evidence. Jurors in the Rosemary West case were offered counselling after the trial to help them cope with the evidence they had seen and heard. This means some jurors may rush their verdict to leave as quickly as possible, especially if they are against the whole system and are forced to listen to distressing evidence. This can lead to rushed or unfair verdicts as jurors just want to go home so don’t really care if the verdict is fair or not.

Question 22

What would the jurors do within the crown court?

Answer 22

12 lay jurors will hear indictable offences and some TEW offences, where D has pled not guilty and opted for a crown court trial

Question 23

What is the jury’s task?

Answer 23

The jury’s task is to reach a verdict of the case which must be based solely on the evidence provided by the prosecution and defence and they would have sworn to do so under oath or affirmation.

Question 24

What must not influence the jury?

Answer 24

Nothing else and it is now a crime to research a case, like in Attorney General v Dallas. The judge cannot influence the decisions of the jury which has been clear since Bushell’s case, where a judge wrongly locked up the jury for not reaching a verdict he wanted them to.

Question 25

What must the jury do?

Answer 25

listen to the judge’s summary of the case and to any guidance given on points of law.

They must also listen to his directions on the burden
and standard of proof.

If the jury do not understand the law or have questions about the evidence, they can ask questions by passing a note to the usher who gives it to
the judge.

Question 26

What happens if not enough evidence is given by the prosecution?

Answer 26

If not enough evidence is given by the prosecution the judge may direct the jury to acquit D- a directed acquittal, and the jury must follow this direction as in R v Counsell.

Question 27

How must the jury make their decision?

Answer 27

The jury make their decision in the jury room in secret- the Contempt of Court Act 1981 says they must not disclose any information discussed to anyone outside.

Question 28

Who is the forewoman/man?

Answer 28

A foreman/woman is selected from the jury and they must control discussion within the jury room and read out the verdict in court.

Question 29

What are the different verdicts required?

Answer 29

A unanimous verdict (12-0 jurors
agreed) is required at first.

However, if they have deliberated for 2 or more hours, they judge can accept a legal majority which is at least 10
jurors agreed.

The Juries Act 1974 says the foreman must read out the number of jurors agreeing/disagreeing.

If less than 10 jurors agree, it is a hung jury and D faces a retrial with a new jury, as in R v Jenkins.