LAY PEOPLE Flashcards
LAY PEOPLE
People without any qualifications
LAY MAGISTRATES FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
1) aged 18-75 on appointment
2) British, Irish or commonwealth citizens
3) In good health
4) live close by/ in area of the court
5) have satisfactory hearing
6) able to sit for 26 half days a year
LAY MAGISTRATES KEY QUALITIES
1) good character
2) understanding and communication
3) social awareness
4) maturity and sound temperament
5) sound judgement
6) commitment and reliability
SELECTION OF MAGISTRATES
1) appointed by current lord chief justice
- delegated to senior presiding judge who relies on recommendations made by local advisory committee
2) vacancies are advertised on the radio and local newspaper
- application form
3) process
- First interview: with local advisory committee consists of local people (including some magistrates)
4) if successful second interview: involves case studies and background checks are completed
APPOINTMENT OF MAGISTRATES
1) passed to lord chief justice (Lord Burnett of Maldron)
2) delegates to: presiding judge for England and Wales (Lady Justice Macur)
3) officially appoints lay magistrate on behalf of the Queen/ King
COMPOSITION
Gender - over half (57%) were female
Ethnicity - (13%)
Disability - not recorded
ROLE OF MAGISTRATES IN CRIMINAL CASES
- decide on guilt
- deal with 97% of criminal cases
- grant/ refuse bail
- mode of trial hearings
- pass sentences
- hear/ see evidence
- max sentence (12 months)
- deal with first hearings
THE JURY QUALIFICATIONS
- Rules about who can/ cannot be on a jury come from The Juries Act 1974 & The Criminal Justice Act 2003
- Checks are carried out to ensure jurors are not disqualified
- Age 18-75
- Registered on electoral register
- Resident in the UK for 5+ years (since age 13)
APPOINTMENT
SELECTION
- Jurors are selected randomly by the Jury Central summoning Bureau
- Jurors can be vetted by a police check
- A summons will be received by post informing a person they must attend for jury service on given date
- At court 15 people are randomly selected from assembly room, 12 are chosen.
- Once selected they are sworn in.
PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION
If they have sentenced to:
- 5 years prison
- extended sentence
- life imprisonment
- suspended sentence
- on bail
- community order
10 YEAR DISQUALIFICATION
If the last 10 years:
- served a sentence
- suspended sentence
- community order
- anytime in prison (up to 5 years)
If a disqualified person turns up for jury service anyway may be fined up to £5000
DEFERRAL
Anyone with problems that make if difficult for them to do their jury service may ask to be excused
Court had discretion to grant an excusal but will only do so if there is a sufficiently good reason
Jury service will be put back to a later date
Anyone can apply to defer their jury service for up to 12 months - must be a good reason
EXCUSAL
Full time serving members of the jury will only be excused for good reasons
An excusal means a person does not need to do their jury duty service if they could not manage the trial
If a person is not excused and fails to turn up, he may be fined up to £1000 for non-attendance
