Juries

Juries

Juries have been used in our legal system for over 1000 years since

the Magna Carta which recognised the right to trail by “the lawful

judgment of his peers.” Since 1215 juries became the usual method of

trying criminal cases. The independence of the jury was recognized in

Bushell’s case (1670) when it was established that the judge could not

challenge the decision made.

Juries are used in both Criminal and Civil cases although the use of

juries is very small. Juries are used in the Crown Court for criminal

trials of indictment, High Court - Queen’s Bench Division, County

Court and in some cases the Coroners’ Courts. Less than 1% of criminal

cases are decided on by a jury this is because 97% of cases are dealt

by the Magistrates’ Court and from the cases that go to the Crown

Court, about two out of three defendants plead guilty. Juries in

criminal cases are used to decide the guilt or innocence of the

defendant. Juries are used in civil cases to decide the liability and

on the damages for the following cases; deformation, malicious

prosecution, fraud and false imprisonment. In very exceptional cases a

jury can be used in personal injury cases. In these cases a judge of

character isn’t necessary so there is no need for a trail. Person

injury cases should normally be tried by a judge to assess

compensation award on a fixed scale. The case on Ward v James (1966)

established that juries will only be used in “exceptional

circumstances,” the case of H v Ministry of Defence (1991) further

reinforced this rule.

The jury is selected randomly from the electoral role. Around 150

people are chosen and then summons around 15 peo...

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...rd Jury (1993) and R v Ford (1989) although in

this case it went ahead as the jury had been chosen at random. They

can also challenge for cause, where the prosecution or defence will

challenged an individual juror with a valid reason. An example of this

type of challenge was R v Wilson and R v Sprason (1995) as the judge

did not allow one of the jurors to be excused from the case, it went

to appeal and the convictions had to be quashed. Finally the

prosecution has an extra right to “standby” a juror. They can ask for

one member to be put to the back of the list with no reason. If not

all the members of the jury turn up on the day of trial then a random

selection of someone from the nearby area can be chosen. This person

will have quick vetting procedures done and will then have to sit on

the full two weeks of the jury.