Juries

Question 1

Can a judge challenge the jury’s decision?

Answer 1

No. Bushell’s Case (1670)

Question 2

How many members are in the Jury in the Crown Court?

Answer 2

12

Question 3

What percentage of criminal cases are heard by a jury?

Answer 3

2%

Question 4

What right does a D in the Magistrates’ Court?

Answer 4

A full trial by jury in the Crown Court

Question 5

What are the basic qualifications to be a juror?

Answer 5

• 18-75 years
• registered as a parliamentary or local government elector
• resident in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for at least five years since his thirteenth birthday

Juries Act 1974

Question 6

Disqualifications from Jury service?

Answer 6

People Serving:

• life sentences
• detention during His Majesty’s pleasure
• imprisonment for public protection
• an extended sentence
• a term of imprisonment that is 5+ years

Disqualified for 10 years if:

• served a sentence of imprisonment
• had a suspended sentence
• had a community order

Question 7

Disqualification due to being a Mentally Disordered Person?

Answer 7

• those with a mental illness who have are hospitalised or attending treatment
• a person under guardianship under s7 of Mental Health Act 1983
• a person determined by a judge as being incapable of administering their property or affairs

Question 8

What did the Criminal Justice Act 2003 change about Lawyers and Police Officers in Juries?

Answer 8

Judges, lawyers and police are now allowed to serve on juries. Some feel this may lead to bias.

Question 9

When can you be excused from jury service?

Answer 9

Discretionary excusals

• Members of the serving forces
• Those too ill to attend
• Mothers with young babies
• People with business appointments
• People who have booked holidays

Most of the above will have their service deferred to a later date, but a non-attendance with no reason can incur up to a £1,000 fine.

Question 10

When will a jury undergo Vetting and police checks?

Answer 10

If requested by either the defence or the prosecution.

Question 11

What was decided in R v Mason (1980) regarding juries?

Answer 11

Vetting was permitted since it was a criminal offence to serve on a jury with a criminal duty, the police were only doing their duty in preventing crime.

Question 12

How many jurors are in a group originally?

Answer 12

15. The clerk then selects 12 at random

Question 13

What are the three reasons for a party challenging the jury?

Answer 13

• to the array
• for cause
• prosecution right to stand by jurors

Question 14

What is meant by challenging a juror ‘for the cause’?

Answer 14

When the right of a juror can be challenged, for instance if they are related to a witness

Question 15

What is meant by the ‘Prosecution right to stand by jurors’?

Answer 15

Can only be used by prosecution. One juror can be put to the end of the list, and will only be used if there are not enough eligible jurors. No reason need to be given.

Question 16

What is mean by challenging the jury ‘to the array’?

Answer 16

s5 Juries Act 1974 - A challenge to the whole jury on the basis that it hasn’t been chosen in a representative way. R v Ford (1989)

Question 17

What is meant by ‘Split function’?

Answer 17

Where the functions are split between the judge and jury. The judge can direct the jury, but their decision on guilt or innocence is final, and they do not need to justify this decision.

Question 18

What is a ‘directed acquittal’?

Answer 18

Where a judge decides there is insufficient evidence to allow the case to continue, the jury is directed to find the defendant not guilty.

Question 19

When will a majority verdict be accepted?

Answer 19

If, after at least 2 hours, the jury hasn’t reached a unanimous verdict.

Question 20

Why was the majority verdict introduced?

Answer 20

To prevent jury ‘nobbling’. When decisions had to be unanimous, all it would take would be for one juror to be bribed to cause a stalemate.

Question 21

What ratio is needed for a majority verdict to be decisive?

Answer 21

10:2 or 11:1 majority is allowed on a full jury of 12.

If there is a smaller jury, only one opinion can differ (10:1 , 9:1) #

but then it’s 9:0 if it gets to 9 jurors.

Question 22

What will happen if a juror is found to be disobeying the ‘Secrecy’ rules in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015?

Answer 22

A juror may find themselves in contempt of court (criminally liable).

Question 23

How do jury discussions take place?

Answer 23

In secret

Question 24

Advantages of using Juries?

Answer 24

-PUBLIC CONFIDENCE - the jury is considered one of the fundamentals of democratic society and a bastion of liberty against the state.

-JURY EQUITY - jurors are not ‘legal experts’, so they reach verdicts on the basis of ‘fairness’ or equity

-OPEN JUSTICE SYSTEM - jury is made up from members of the public. There is a clear view on how the law is applied in cases.

-JURY SECRECY - No pressure on the jurors to express honest opinions. Jurors are also protected from outside influence

-IMPARTIALITY - randomly picked jury mean there is no bias.

Question 25

Disadvantages of using Juries?

Answer 25

-PERVERSE DECISION - where the jury ignores evidence and leads to a wrong decision (Randle and Pottle)

-SECRECY - we don’t know if the jury understood the case (Mirza)

-THE INTERNET - internet research by jurors has become more common. A 2010 report by Cheryl Thomas found that 12% of jurors admitted to searching the internet for information.

• RACIAL BIAS - Sander v UK (2000)

-MEDIA INFLUENCE - unavoidable media coverage in large scale cases will influence jury. (Taylor and Taylor)

-JURY TAMPERING

-LACK OF UNDERSTANDING