Juries 2 (Roles)

Question 1

What are the roles of a jury? (roles 1-3)

Answer 1

• A jury of 12 lay people hears indictable offences and triable either way offences where D pleads ‘not guilty’. All these cases are heard in the Crown Court. Overall this equates to about 3000 cases per year, less than 1.5% of all criminal cases.
• The jury is the sole decider of fact. They must try the case purely on the basis of evidence which they have in court. They promise to do in the oath/affirmation which they take.
• No one else is allowed to try and influence their decision making, this includes the judge - (s)he must accept the jury’s verdict even if (s)he does not agree with it. This point has been clear since Bushell’s Case. the jury do not have to give reasons for their decision.

Question 2

What are the roles of a jury? (roles 4-5)

Answer 2

• Jury must listen to the judge’s summing up at the end of the case, as well as listening to, and following the judge’s directions and guidance on any points of law involved in the case.
• The jury must listen to the evidence of both the Prosecution and Defence. At the end of the Prosecution case, the judge can direct the jury to acquit D if there is insufficient evidence against D. This is called a ‘Directed Acquittal’ and the jury must follow judge’s order to do this.
• This happens in about 10% of cases. An example of directed acquittal is R v Counsell.

Question 3

How does the jury come to a verdict?

Answer 3

-The jury must retire to the jury room to consider their verdict in secret. The Contempt of Court Act 1981 makes it an offence to disclose the content of any discussions in the jury room with anyone outside.

-At the end of a trial, the jury must elect a foreman.
The foreman’s role is to:
1) Orchestrate/control debate in the jury room; and
2) Publicly announce the verdict in open court

Question 4

What else is involved in the verdict?

Answer 4

• If it is a majority verdict, the foreman must announce the number of jurors agreeing and disagreeing with the verdict. The Juries Act 1974 says this is to try and ensure that the jury have reached a legal majority.
• Jury’s main job is to reach a verdict of ‘Guilty’ or ‘Not guilty’
• Initially, the judge will direct the jury to reach a unanimous verdict (12-0). However, the Criminal Justice Act 1967 says that if after 2 hours, the jury cannot do so, the judge can accept a majority vote (11-1, 10-2). To stop jury nobbling.
• If less than 9 jurors agreed, this will be a hung jury and the judge will discharge them; D will face a retrial, like in R v Jenkins.

Question 5

What are the concerns about having a jury?

Answer 5

-It is very easy for jurors to research defendants or other relevant details in a case on the internet

This is a concern because each juror promises to try the case solely on evidence.

Question 6

What are the solutions to jury concerns?

Answer 6

• The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 states as follows:
  1) The trial judge has the power to order the jurors to hand in any electronic device before they go into the jury room to decide their verdict.
  2) The jury officer has the power to search a juror to check for any such devices.
  3) It is not a criminal offence to research a case on the internet.
  4) It is not a criminal offence for any juror to share any researched information with fellow jurors.