juries, lay people in the law Flashcards
describe the role of a jury in 10 points
- a jury is only used in the crown court when a defendant pleads not guilty
- a jury is used in approximately 30,000 cases per year
- usually takes two weeks to complete service
- jury members must take an oath on a holy boom or ‘promise to tell the truth’
- the jury may be asked to leave the courtroom so the lawyers can discuss the case without making the jury biased
- the jury members can only discuss the case with each other
- the jury will elect a foreman among them to stand up and speak
- the jury will decide whether a defendant is innocent or guilty
- they listen to evidence from barristers and the case summary form the judge to help them make their decision as well as applying acts of parliament
- they reach their decision in a jury room in secret
describe a case for juries
r v mckenna, judge threatened to send jury to prison for a night if they did not reach a verdict in 10 minutes, the jury complied but the conviction was quashed on appeal because of this
describe the rules for jury verdicts
- there should be a unanimous decision but if thee jury cannot come to a verdict after 2.12 hours the judge can except a majority verdict (11/12, 10/12), the majority verdict came out in 1957 due to fear of nobbling
- if there is a hung jury there will be a re trial or the case will simply be left
describe the privacy jury members are required to have
-the criminal justice and courts act 2015 makes it a criminal offence to initially obtain or disclose information about the discussions made by members of the jury.
what does a person have to be to qualify for jury service
- 18-75
- on the electoral register
- resident on the uk, channel islands or isle of white for more than 5 years
what are the three reasons a person be permanently disqualified from jury service
- imprisonment for life
- imprisonment for public protection
- a term of imprisonment for five years or more
what are the three reasons a person be disqualified from jury service for 10 years
- served a prison sentence in the past 10 years
- had a suspended sentence in the past 10 years
- had a community order or sentence in the past 10 years
what does a certain act say about mentally disordered people in a jury
-criminal justice act 2003 defines that mentally disordered people are not allowed to sit on jury
which two excusals are there from jury service
- members of the forces will be excused from jury service
- discretionary exceptions such as a pre booked holiday or a new born baby will allow a person to postpone their jury service
what are the rules relating to judges sitting on juries
-judges are able to sit in a jury but they do soo as a private citizen, it is their decision whether they disclose whether they are a judge or not. the same rules apply to police officers and lawyers. The criminal justice act 2003 assured that these people could sit on juries.
what are the rules towards lack of capacity to sit on a jury
- the mere fact that someone is disabled does not enable them from sitting on a jury,
- it is only if there is a disability that renders them incapable of acting effectively as a juror, for example if someone is blind so cant see evidence
what is the process for vetting a jury
- police checks: routine checks are always made on prospective jury members to ensure they are not disqualified
- wider background checks: the police can also pass information to the cps who may decide not to use a juror due to previous criminal activity.
- challenging the array: the right to challenge a whole jury is given in s5 of the juries act 1975 on the basis that it has been chosen in an unrepresentative or biased way.
- challenging for cause; this is when an individual jury member is challenged. for example if they are disqualified or know somebody in the court room.
name the cases for challenging the array and challenging for cause
challenging the array= r v fraser, the defendant was on ethnic minority but all jury members were white
-challenging for cause=r v wilson and r v sprason proved that justice not only has to be done but has to be seen to be done. a member of the jury was the wife of prison guard in the prison where both defendants were being held.
name four advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury
+public confidence in the jury system that people’s peers in society are deciding their fate
+jury equity, representative of society and a wide range of opinions
+secrecy of the jury room, jury members dont have to explain their decisions so they can do what they believe is right without any reprocussions or restrictions
-perverse decisions, because the jury doesnt have to explain themselves they can make obscure or unfair decisions and that is final
-lack of understanding, jury members are not legally qualified so make their decisions based on personal morals rather than the general context of the law
-prejudice, there is no way of monitoring the person prejudices of individual jury members therefore decisions could be made based on racism, sexism, age bias etc
