Criminal Courts & Lay People: Juries Flashcards
Where are juries used?
In the Crown Court only
What cases are juries used for?
Where the D pleads not guilty
What percentage of trials are juries for?
2% of all criminal trials
How many jurors sit on a jury?
12 sit in Crown Court on indictment
What do jurors base their decision on?
Facts, not law
What do juries do?
Listen to evidence and judges summing up
What is a directed acquittal?
Evidence is not strong enough so send D home
Where will jurors discuss?
In the jury room
What don’t juries have to do?
Give reasons for their decisions
What is the Criminal Courts and Justice Act 2015?
Makes it a criminal offence to intentionally disclose or ask anything about what happened
Judge can ask for jurors’ mobile phone/electronic devices
What is a unaninmous verdict?
If not after 2hrs, jury haven’t made a decision, judge can ask for majority verdict (10:2/11:1)
Minimises jury nobbling
What is the Juries Act 1974?
Foreman must announce the numbers both agreeing and disagreeing verdict in open court
What are the qualifications for jurors?
18-75 yrs old
On the electoral register
Lived in UK for 5yrs+
Ineligible
People who are mentally disordered are disqualified from jury service under the Criminal Justice Act 2003
Disqualified
Prison sentence for 5yrs+ = permenantly disqualified
Less then 5yrs = Disqualified from jury service for 10yrs
Bail = disqualified
Excused
Lawyers, judges, police must do jury service
Armed forces, doctors and pharmacists are granted excusal
Deferred
Anyone with problems that would make it difficult to be a juror
New parent
Operation
Exams
Surgery
Pre-booked holiday
How are jurors selected?
From the electoral register
How many jurors are selected?
15 jurors are selected to go to the courtroom for a 2 week period
How many actually sit?
12 are chosen at random by the clerk using name cards
What are the different types of vetting?
Routine Police checks
Juror’s background
What is a routine police check?
Check of the criminal record
What is the juror’s background?
Political affiliations checked in exceptional cases
When does challenging take place?
Before jurors are sworn in
Who can challenge jurors?
Defence and prosecution
What is challenging the array?
Right to challenge the whole jury as may be unrepresentative or biased
What is challenging for cause?
Right to remove an individual juror due to potential bias - may know/relate to defendant
What is the ‘right to stand by’?
Only available for the prosecution
Put somone’s name at the end of the list to make sure person is only picked as last resort
P - confidence in system
DP - To be tried by normal, non-legally qualified people is seen to be democratic. Lord Devlin said juries are ‘the lamp that shows freedom live’
WDP - Tradition of trial by jury is old and people have confidence in the impartiality and fairness
P - Jurors don’t follow previous decisions/acts of parliament
DP - Freedom in decision making, often decide cases on waht is fair and just
WDP - E.g., Ponting’s case, secret let out for good reason
P - Open system of justice
DP - Whole process is public, public plays a key rols, makes them feel more involved, upholds public policy
WDP - Also, laywers have to explain the situation to the jury, so defendant can also know what’s going om
P - Secrecy of the jury room
DP - Jury free from pressure in its discussion, protected from outside influences, make decisions which they think are right
WDP - People less willing to serve on jury if they knew their decision was made public
Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994 provides protection for jury members, states it’s an offence to intimidate or threaten jurors physically or financially
P - Perverse decisions are reached as a result of jury equity
DP - As jury can ignore evidence, can result in wrong decision, research shows there are doubts regarding 5% decisions made by juries.
WDP - E.g., R v Kronlid
P - Trials difficult to understand
DP - Report stated only 31% of jurors undertsand instructions by judge, only rose to 48% when given written summary of instructions, worrying the defendant’s life if being decided by people who don’t even understand the trial
WDP - Fraud trials difficult to keep up with - R v Rayment Lasted 2 yrs, costed £60m
P - Jury bias
DP - Even though 12 jurors sit, prejudice can still affect the overall decision. Some may be biased towards police or racially prejudiced
WDP - Media coverage may also influence jurors, especially in high profile cases such as the Moors Murders
P - Unpopular
DP - Compulsory nature of jury service is unpopular, some may be against whole system and rush whole process to get a verdict quicker
WDP - Can be a strain on jurors themselves, may need counselling
