History& Modern day use of the jury

Question 1

How long have juries been used in the legal system?

Answer 1

1,000 years, before the Norman Conquest

Question 2

How did juries become the usual method of trying criminal cases in 1215?

Answer 2

When trial by ordeal was condemned by the Church and the Magna Carta which included the recognition of a persons right to trial by ‘the lawful judgement of his peers’

Question 3

What were juries originally used for?

Answer 3

providing local knowledge and information , acting more as witnesses than decision makers

Question 4

What had juries become by the middle of the fifteenth century?

Answer 4

independent assessors and assumed their modern role as deciders of fact

Question 5

Following which case did the independence of the jury become even more firmly established ?

Answer 5

Bushell’s Case 1670

Question 6

What happened in Bushell’s Case 1670?

Answer 6

Established independence of juries and confirmed the Court of Common Pleas could issue a writ of HC.
Several jurors refused to convict Quaker activists Wm Penn and Wm Mead of unlawful assembly.
The trial judge would not accept this and charged the jury “shall not be dismissed until we have a verdict the court will accept”.
The jury again came to the same conclusion. The judge fined them and committed them to prison until the fines were paid. Edward Bushel refused to pay the fine.
Court of Common Pleas ordered the release of jurors as they could not be punished for their verdict

Question 7

What did the Bushels Case 1670 establish?

Answer 7

that the jury were the sole arbiters of fact and the judge could not challenge their decision

Question 8

What is a modern day example demonstrating that judges must respect the independence of the jury?

Answer 8

R v McKenna 1960

Question 9

What happened in the case R v McKenna 1960?

Answer 9

the judge at the trial had threatened the jury that if they did not return a verdict within another 10 minutes they would be locked up all night. Unsurprisingly the jury delivered a verdict. returned a verdict of guilty, D’Souza conviction was quashed on appeal due to the judges interference.

Question 10

In what courts are juries used?

4

Answer 10

• Crown Court for criminal trials on indictment
• High Court, Queens Bench Division (only certain types of cases)
• County Court (similar cases as QBD)
• Coroners’ Courts (some cases)

Question 11

In what court is the most important use of juries? What do they do?

Answer 11

Crown Court where they decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

Question 12

What do jury trials account for (percentage) of all criminal trials?

Answer 12

less than one percent

Question 13

Why do jury trials account for only 1% of all criminal trials?
(quite depthy)

Answer 13

This is because 97% of criminal cases are dealt with by the Magistrates Court

• of the cases that go to Crown Court, 2 out of 3 defendants plead guilty
• of cases that go to Crown Court and plead not guilty, some of them will be discharged by a judge without trial due to Crown Prosecution Service withdrawing the charges as witnesses not being present to give evidence

Question 14

A jury in the Crown Court has how many members?

Answer 14

12

Question 15

What is the dual role of juries in civil cases , although rare?

Answer 15

1) they decide whether the claimant has proved his case or not
2) if they decide the claimant has won the case, jury decides the amount of damages that the defendant should pay to the claimant

Question 16

Up to what year were all common law civil cases tried by jury ?

Answer 16

1854

Question 17

from 1854 what could the parties do which reduced the role of the jury?

Answer 17

agree not to use a jury and gradually reduced the role of the jury

Question 18

In 1933 what Act was put in motion?

Answer 18

1993, the Administration of Justice Act

Question 19

What did the 1933 Administration of Justice Act do ?

Answer 19

limited the right to use a jury so that juries could not be used in disputes over breach of contract

Question 20

What did the 1933 Administration of Justice Act prohibit juries to be used in?

Answer 20

disputes over breach of contract

Question 21

Where can the present rules for when juries may be used in civil cases be found?
in
-High Court
-County Court

Answer 21

• set out under s.69 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 for High Court cases
• s.66 of the County Courts Act 1984 for cases in that court

Question 22

What does s.69 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 & s.66 of the County Courts Act 1984 state parties have the right to jury trial in which 4 types of cases?

Answer 22

• defamation, in cases of libel and slander
• false imprisonment
• malicious prosecution
• fraud

Question 23

Out of
-defamation, in cases of libel and slander
-false imprisonment
-malicious prosecution
-fraud
which is the most frequent use of juries?

Answer 23

defamation, in cases of libel and slander

Question 24

Why are juries used in

• defamation, in cases of libel and slander
• false imprisonment
• malicious prosecution
• fraud ?

Answer 24

all these cases involve character or reputation and it is for this reason that jury trial has been retained

Question 25

When can a jury be rejected in the cases of
-defamation, in cases of libel and slander
-false imprisonment
-malicious prosecution
-fraud
by a judge? (3)

Answer 25

if the case involves complicated documents or accounts or scientific evidence and is therefore thought to be unsuitable for jury trial

Question 26

How many cases per year are tried by jury in the Queens Bench Division?

Answer 26

10 cases a year

Question 27

Out of the 10 cases a year tried by jury in the Queens Bench Division, what types of cases are these nearly all?

Answer 27

defamation cases (in cases of libel and slander)

Question 28

Where a jury is used in the High Court, how many jurors will there be?

Answer 28

12 jurors

Question 29

how often is it that a civil case at the QBD when applied to be trialled by jury is accepted?

Answer 29

rare

Question 30

What happened in Ward v James 1966?

Answer 30

the plaintiff was claiming for injuries caused in a road crash. The Court of Appeal laid down guidelines for personal injury cases

Question 31

After the case of Ward v James 1966, what was the guidelines set out by the Court of Appeal for personal injury cases?

Answer 31

personal injury cases…

• should be normally tried by a judge sitting alone as such cases involve assessing compensatory damages which have to have regard to the conventional scales of damages
• there have to be exceptional circumstances before the court we allow a jury to be used in such a case

Question 32

What did the decision in Ward v James effectively put a stop to ?

Answer 32

the use of juries for personal injury cases

Question 33

What 2 cases other than Ward v James 1966 show that the courts have proved very reluctant to let juries be used?

Answer 33

Singh v London Underground 1990

H v Ministry of Defence 1991

Question 34

Why was Singh v London Underground 1990 refused a jury trial?

Answer 34

It was held that the case was unsuitable for jury trial because it involved such wide issues and technical points

Question 35

Why was H v Ministry of Defence 1991 refused a jury trial?

Answer 35

held that a jury trial for a personal injury claim would only be allowed in very exceptional circumstances and this was not one. The court said that an example where jury trial may be appropriate was where injuries resulted from someone deliberately abusing their authority and where there might be a claim for exemplary damages

Question 36

In the case H v Ministry of Defence 1991 what did the court say may be an example where trial by jury would be allowed in a exceptional circumstance?

Answer 36

Where injuries resulted from someone deliberately abusing their authority and where there might be a claim for exemplary damages

Question 37

How often is trial by jury used in the County Court?

Answer 37

Very rare cases

Question 38

When are the circumstances in which a jury is used in the County Court?

Answer 38

since 1991 changes in jurisdiction has meant that defamation actions can be transferred for trial to the County Court meaning that occasionally cases are trialled by jury

Question 39

When a jury is used in the County Court how many jurors are used?

Answer 39

8

Question 40

How is it evident that the use of jury is so rare in the County Court ?

Answer 40

When a jury was used in the north of England, a newspaper article claimed that it was the first one in 40 years

Question 41

In the Corners Courts how many jurors are used to enquire into deaths?

Answer 41

7-11

Question 42

What is the Act which sets down the reasoning for a use of jury in the Coroners Courts?

Answer 42

Coroners and Justice Act 2009

Question 43

What does the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 state when a jury must be used?

Answer 43

a) reason to suspect that the deceased died while in custody
i) death was violet or unnatural
ii) cause of death is unknown
b) death resulted from an act of omission of a police officer
c) death was caused by a notifiable accident poisoning or disease

Question 44

What is the role of the 12 jurors in a County Court case for 
defamation 
false imprisonment 
malicious prosecution 
fraud
?

Answer 44

to decide liability and decide amount of damages

Question 45

What is the role of the 8 jurors in the Crown Court on cases for serious criminal cases (e.g murder, manslaughter, rape)?

Answer 45

to decide ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ verdict

Question 46

What is the role of the 12 jurors of the High Court in cases if 
defamation 
false imprisonment 
malicious prosecution 
fraud ?

Answer 46

to decide liability and decide amount of damages

Question 47

What statute gives a qualified right to jury trial in the following four cases only: libel and slander; malicious prosecution; false imprisonment; and fraud.

Answer 47

The Supreme Court Act 1981

Question 48

Bushel’s Case (1670) 124 E.R. 1006

Answer 48

Court of Common Pleas

Judge: Sir John Vaughan