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The Role and Selection of Juries in the UK Legal System
![Juries The jury have been a part of our legal system since 1215, and the Magna Carta recognised a person’s right to trial by ‘the lawful judgements of his peers.’ In the case of Bushell’s Case of 1670 . several jurors refused to convict Quaker activists of unlawful assembly. The judge wouldn’t accept this and told them to re-think their verdict without food or drink. They still refused, and were sent to prison and fined. This proved that a judge cannot challenge the juries decision. In the case of R v McKenna 1960 , the judge threatened the jury that if they didn’t reach a verdict within ten minutes, then they would be locked up for the night. The jury came back with a guilty verdict, but it was not used because of the judge’s interference. Courts Where Juries Are Used The Juries Act 1974 has been amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Only people now automatically entitled to be excused are those who have served or attended to serve on a jury in the past two years. If someone cannot make jury duty on that particular day, then they will be assigned another day. Only in extreme circumstances should a person be excused; e.g. exams, or religious reasons. People can be disqualified permanently if they are in prison, custody or detention for life. If they are detained under Her Majesty’s pleasure or detained for public protection. HOWEVER, anyone currently on bail A term of five years or more. How Juries Are Selected Names are randomly selected from a computer at the Jury Summoning Bureau from an electronic copy of the electoral register. They’re required to summon enough jurors to try cases that will be heard in each two week period at court. If the person summoned cannot attend, they must contact the court. They do this by completing their jury summons. All jurors are expected to attend at leas two weeks of jury service. Where it is known that a trial could be very long, jurors are asked of they can serve a long period of time. The Vetting Process Once the list of jurors is known, both the prosecution and the defence have the right to see the list. In some cases, it may be decided that the jurors should be vetted. Should only be used in terrorist cases or national security where evidence is given by camera. ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Background Checks Jurors backgrounds might be checked. This was brought about by the ABC trial in 1978 where two journalists and a soldier were charged with collecting secret information. The jury had been vetted so it was thought that more checks should be made in the future. How Juries Are Selected At Court Set into groups of 15 and sent to different courts. 12 are chosen and if there isn’t enough people, they are picked up from the streets. Challenging To The Array This is a challenge to the whole jury because the jury was picked in a biased or unrepresentative way This challenge was used in the Romford Jury Case in 1993 where 9 of the 12 jurors came from Romford. In Frazer 1987, it was used when the defendant was from an ethnic minority and all the jury were white. The jury were later empanelled. In Ford, 1989, the judge decided that as long as a jury had been empanelled properly, it could not be challenged just because it was not multi racial. Peremptory Challenge This right (to challenge a number of jurors without reason) has been abolished due to it being absurd. For example, in the past it had been used to get a young, all female or all black jury. Can sit in cases concerning death, industrial accidents, health and safety of public and police custody. Coroners can refuse juries in road accident or suspected homicide. 7-11 in a jury. Coroners Court Very rare – generally defamation cases are head. 8 people in a jury. County Court Juries sit in some circumstances but have to decide both the verdict and the compensation. They sit in defamation, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and fraud. Judge can refuse a jury trial if issues are too complex. 12 people in a jury High Court and Queens Bench Division Juries sit in 1% of criminal trials. 12 people in a jury Crown Court Jury Trials and Jury Panel Court](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/lawexchangecouk-shared-resource132/85/Law-Exchange-co-uk-Shared-Resource-1-320.jpg)
