Juries

Question 1

What Rights do you have to trial

Answer 1

The right to a fair trial:
Enshrined in the Charter Section 7 and 11(d)

The right to a trial by jury:
In criminal cases involving indictable offenses - defined by Charter Section 11(f)
Where the max punishment for the offence is imprisonment for 5 yrs or more severe punishment

Juries Act (provincial/territorial)

Question 2

Reasons you would be disqualified from jury duty in SK

Answer 2

Not a Canadian citizen, resident of SK, or at least 18 years of age.

Members of the Privy Council, the Senate, and the House of Commons;

Members and officers of the Legislative Assembly;
Reeves, councillors, and mayors;

Members of boards of education, the Conseil Scolaire Fransaskois, and boards of trustees of school districts or conseil d’ecoles;

People who are or at any time have been judges, lawyers, members of any police force, justices of the peace, or coroners;

Officials or employees of the Saskatchewan Department of Justice, or the Canada Department of Justice or Department of the Solicitor General;

Spouses of the above persons;

People who are legally confined in an institution;

People who are certified incompetent;

People who are unable to understand the language in which the trial is to be conducted.

Question 3

Additional reasons to de disqualified from service

Answer 3

Justifiable excuse - hardship
Breastfeeding?
Primary caregiver?
Your job can’t be done without you?
Booked a vacation?

Too influential of a person?
Personal interest in the issue?

Question 4

Jury Selection

Answer 4

Juror impaneling process in Canada (s.631)

1. Each juror’s name and address written on a card.
2. Cards given to the Sheriff.
3. Sheriff mixes up cards and gives them to the clerk of the court.
4. Clerk draws the cards out randomly until a sufficient number have been drawn to provide a full jury after allowing for challenges.
5. Each member of the panel is sworn.

Question 5

Challenge for cause

Answer 5

638. (1) A prosecutor or an accused is entitled to any number of challenges on the ground that:
     (a) the name of a juror does not appear on the panel…;
     (b) a juror is not indifferent between the Queen and the accused;
     (c) a juror has been convicted of an offence for which he was sentenced to death or to a term of imprisonment exceeding 12 months;
     (d) a juror is an alien;
     (e) a juror is physically unable to perform properly the duties of a juror; or
     (f) a juror does not speak the official language of Canada that is the language of the accused …

If concern about biased jury pool:
May be able to ask a few Q’s of potential jurors
Re: opinions and attitudes
Fellow jurors make judgment of partiality

Question 6

Peremptory challenges

Answer 6

CCC S. 634

Don’t have to give a reason

Accused & Crown

		- 1st degree murder or high treason - 20
		- A crime for which the possible 				       sentence is 5 yrs or longer - 12
		- Other crimes --> 4

Question 7

Jury Functions

Answer 7

“The perceived importance of the jury and the Charter right to a jury trial is meaningless without some guarantee that it will perform its duties impartially (Impartiality) and represent, as far as possible and appropriate in the circumstances, the larger community (Representativeness).”

Question 8

Safeguards Against Impartiality

Answer 8

Judicial power
Warnings
Oath of jurors
Seriousness and solemnity
Diffused impartiality
12 minds (criminal cases)

Question 9

Successful Grounds of Alleged Impartiality

Answer 9

Racism (not automatic but liberal after R. v. Williams, 1998)
Sexual preference
Nature of the offence
Nature of the defence
Credibility of police officers
Pre-trial publicity

Question 10

Assumptions about Jury Capabilities

Answer 10

Jurors follow judicial instructions
Jurors can suspend judgment
Jurors do not succumb to group pressure
Tabula Rasa
Evidentiary focus

Question 11

Judges Instructions

Answer 11

Generally, very long and complex;
Legally dense
Fundamental assumption that juries are willing & able to follow instructions;
Many jurors do not understand, remember, or accurately apply judges’ instructions (Devine et al., 2001).
E.g., Juries confuse evidence, display bias, consider pretrial publicity, and take into account past criminal record
Estimates of

Question 12

Proposed Judges Instructions Reforms

Answer 12

4 suggested reforms:
Rewriting instructions
Providing written instructions
Pre- and post-evidence instructions
Lawyer clarification

Question 13

Tabula Rasa

Answer 13

Assumption:
Jurors enter trials as a passive “blank slate,” without biases, preconceived notions about the outcome of the trial, etc.

Reality: Every individual is influenced to some extent by his or her attitudes, beliefs, and especially experiences

Question 14

Evidentiary Focus

Answer 14

Assumption: Jurors are able to base their decision solely upon the evidence presented during trial
Reality: Pre-trial publicity, extra-legal factors, inadmissible evidence–all can influence decision making

Effects of Pretrial Publicity:
Form an irrevocable position prior to trial
Increases likelihood of guilty verdict
Receive info from media they wouldn’t get during trial
Traditional “cures” don’t seem to work (delay, jury admonitions, cause challenges)

Extra-Legal Factors:
Opening statement 
Attractiveness of lawyers and accused
Race and gender
Emotionality of accused