Lecture 6 - Courts of Justice

Question 1

Summary Offence

Answer 1

• 6 month maximum sentence.
• Driving, common assault; public (dis)order.

Question 2

Indictable Offence

Answer 2

• Magistrates’ courts always pass the most serious crimes to the Crown Court.
• E.g. rape, murder, robbery.

Question 3

Triable either way:

Answer 3

Can be indictable or summary. Therefore, can be tried at Magistrates or Crown Court.

Question 4

Jury Decision Making

Answer 4

• Virtually no juries present in civil cases.
• Juries decide less than 1% of criminal cases annually in UK.
• In Crown Court, approx. 12% of charges settled by jury.
• Used predominately in Crown Court, usually in the most serious cases.

Question 5

Make-up of juries:

Answer 5

• 12 people (8 in civil cases)
• Juries act as ‘triers of fact’
• 1967 Criminal Justice Act = majority verdict (10:2)
• 1972 Criminal Justice Act abolished the requirement to be a property owner.

Question 6

Why do we have juries?

Answer 6

• Protect from the state - i.e. judge, police, etc… all paid by the state.
• Acceptance of the decision.
• Unbiased decision.

Question 7

Who is Exempt from Jury Service?

Answer 7

Generally, anyone who is on the electoral register and aged from 18 and 70 is eligible to be called for jury service.
However,
- Mental Health
- Recent Convictions and Sentences
- Certain jobs - e.g. member of armed forces.

Question 8

Devine et al, 2001 (Summarised the research on the decision making of juries around four themes as follows: Theme 1)

Answer 8

• Theme 1 - Jurors often do not make decisions in the manner intended by the courts, regardless of how they are instructed.

Question 9

Devine et al, 2001 (Summarised the research on the decision making of juries around four themes as follows: Theme 2)

Answer 9

• Theme 2 - Dispositional characteristics may predict jury outcomes better than juror verdict preferences (level of favouritism when defendant shares characteristics w/jury.

Question 10

Devine et al, 2001 (Summarised the research on the decision making of juries around four themes as follows: Theme 3)

Answer 10

• Theme 3 - Kalven and Ziesel’s, 1966 - liberation hypothesis - argues that bias was more likely to occur when evidence against a defendant was weak or ambiguous.

Question 11

Devine et al, 2001 (Summarised the research on the decision making of juries around four themes as follows: Theme 4)

Answer 11

• Theme 4 - Deliberation processes do not influence jury outcomes. They usually make up their mind before they begin to discuss the case.

Question 12

For and Against Juries:

Answer 12

For
- They allow for public participation.
- Jury members not swayed by professional prejudice.
Against
- Juries cannot cope with highly complex cases, e.g. complex fraud.
- Juries may be dominated by a few individuals.

Question 13

Bar Council and Law Society (2002)

Answer 13

• 80% of respondents trusted juries to come to the right decision.
• They felt it was better to have juries as compared to judge only.