Evaluation of Juries

Question 1

Positive
P: Democratic

Answer 1

Dev: Inspires public confidence in jury
Represents public views in trials
Lord Devlin commented jury is “lamp that shows the freedom of lives”
E: Furthermore inspires public confidence in criminal justice system
Way of restricting government of abusing power

Question 2

Positive
P: Jury Equity

Answer 2

Dev: Jurys ultimately make decision on guilty or not
Can include finding someone not guilty as they shouldn’t be punished even if guilty is clear
Seen in Colston Four 2022
Found not guilty due to not morally wrong
Jury supposed to represent community views
E: However goes against legal principles, judge should pass lenient sentence for these cases

Question 3

Positive
P: Secrecy of jury room

Answer 3

Dev: Discussions between jury members are private in a room with no one else in which ensures jury members aren’t influenced by pressure such as media, retaliations and duties are exercised properly
E: However can make system open to misuse, seen in R v Young where juror used ouija board

Question 4

Positive
P: Impartial

Answer 4

Dev: Using juries is seen as fairer than decisions made by magistrates or judges as juries are ‘equals’ in society. Random 12 makes it more likely prejudice is eliminated when deciding, whereas judges lack diversity
E: In addition, judges and magistrates tend to be case hardened as they see criminal cases so often, whereas jury less likely to happen

Question 5

Negative
P: Perverse verdicts

Answer 5

Dev: Outcome of jury equity, finding someone not guilty when clearly guilty goes against legal principles. Should be up to judge for less serious sentences. R v Kronlid where acquitted defendant who admitted to criminal damage on war planes
E: However argued that if 12 members of public believe to not convict then wrong to convict them

Question 6

Negative
P: Outside influences

Answer 6

Dev: Number of outside influences that influence jury, even subconsciously, includes use of internet or comments of the media. In R v Taylor, murder convictions of 2 sisters overturned due to media sensationalised case so impacted jury
E: In addition, risk of jury tampering where jurors are bribed or threatened, under s.44 of criminal justice act 2003, trial can happen under exceptional circumstances without jury if there is risk of this

Question 7

Negative
P: Jury secrecy

Answer 7

Dev : as all deliberations are done in secret and no need to explain reasoning, danger deliberations are improper or other jurors can be bullied into making a decision. Found in R v Mirza, found guilty but another juror said racial bias was included
E: However it is a fundamental part of the process that juries should discuss case freely and in secret

Question 8

Negative
P: lack of understanding

Answer 8

Dev: Some cases can be very complex, both legally and in terms of facts, makes it very difficult for the average jury member without special legal training to follow the case and make an appropriate decision. Study by cheryl thomas of 800 jurors 2 in 3 jurors did not fully understand
E: Furthermore can be worsened when juries sit for long periods of time, increasing risk of them missing facts and making bad decisions.