Trial by Jury and Alternatives to It

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Trial by Jury and Alternatives to It In order to decide whether or not trial by jury should or should not be abolished, we need to know what it is that we are dealing with and what viable alternative or alternatives there are to it. I will take a brief look at the history of the jury trial. I will examine the function of the jury; look at what is good and bad about the jury system. Finally I will examine the proposed alternatives to trial by jury that are currently in fashion. The jury system first arrived in Britain after the Norman Conquest. The earliest jury was a body of neighbours summoned by a public officer to give oath as answer to some question[1]. The sworn inquest was used to enable the recognition on oath of a number of upstanding members of the community to testify to facts which they had personal knowledge. Those called were not judges of fact, but witnesses. By the end of the twelfth century, a person accused of a crime could, on payment obtain the right to obtain a trial by jury. (I will return to this point later when I look at the government's proposals to remove the right to elect jury trial in either way offences) When Pope Innocent III abolished trial by ordeal in 1215 and compurgation (the accused sought to clear himself by his own oath backed up by the oaths of friends and neighbours, who testified to his character rather than to the facts) fell from favour a need arose to find a new method of establishing guilt. Judges who went out on the circuit in England gradually develope... ... middle of paper ... ...w.criminal-justice-system.gov.uk [3] http://www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk/ Chapter 5 Juries [4] Jury Excusal and Deferral, Research Findings No. 102, Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate [5] http://www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk/ Chapter 5 Juries Para 16 [6] http://www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk/ Chapter 5 Juries Para 26 [7] http://www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk/ Chapter 5 Juries Para 27 [8] [9] [10] [11] The Jury at Work (1972) [12]http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2000/rp00-023.pdf Page 18-19 [13] British Criminal Statistics By Tom Walkins Source www.criminal-justice-system.gov.uk [14] http://www.warwick.ac.uk/news/pr/law/191 [15] Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) Bill Briefing Note http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/motbrief.htm

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