Jury Evaluation

Question 1

What are the 5 strengths of the jury system?

Answer 1

-Jury equity
-Secrecy in the jury room
-Public confidence
-Impartiality
-Open system of justice

Question 2

What are the 5 disadvantages of the jury system?

Answer 2

-Perverse decisions
-Secrecy
-Media influence
-Jury tampering
-Racial or gender bias

Question 3

Jury equity

Answer 3

-Not legal experts so not bound to follow the precedent of past cases or acts. Don’t have to give explanations or reasons
-Decide based on idea of fairness
-Ponting: civil servant leaked info on the sinking of the Belgrano in falklands war to labour MP. Convicted under the official secrets act 1911. Pleaded NG at the trial as for public interest. Jury refused to convict
-Gilderdale - Jury acquitted mother of attempted murder who attempted suicide, overdosed, mother gave medication in final hours.

Question 4

Contrast to jury equity

Answer 4

-Perverse decisions
-Evidence and facts ignored by the jury and can give wrong decision
-R v Randle and Pottle. Jury acquitted D who was helping spy escape from prison, protest over Timelapse of prosecution and the offence.
-R v Kronlid: D admitted causing 1.5 million damage to plane, pleaded NG criminal damage as was preventing plane sent to Indonesia to be used in attacks

Question 5

Secrecy in the jury room

Answer 5

-Jury can remain in secret and no enquiry of findings
-free from pressure and protected from outside influences
-verdicts may not be popular with public
-people less likely to serve on jury if there reasoning is revealed to the public
-Criminal justice and courts act 2015 makes it a criminal offence to intentionally ask or disclose information about what happens in jury room. Allowed in situations of public interest

Question 6

Contrast to secrecy

Answer 6

-Bc no reasons have to be given for verdict no way to know if jury understood case and came to decision for right reasons
-R v Mirza: Pakistani interpreter. Jury sent notes asking why he needed interpreter, theory that the interpreter was a ploy
-R v Connor and Rollock: case about a stabbing. Jurors said even tho they thought it was one person or the other they should convict both to teach lesson. HL said that confidentiality is essential to jury process
-exception: r v young: jurors in hotel overnight, held seance and used ouija board to contact the dead and say who killed them. Returned guilty verdict, quashed as what had happened

Question 7

Public confidence

Answer 7

-Public have high confidence in justice system as 12 strangers deciding on facts of case. The right to be tried by ones peers is a bastion of liberty. Lord Devlin said that juries are the lamp that shows freedom lives
-Tradition of trial by jury very old and people have confidence in impartiality and fairness

Question 8

Contrast to public confidence

Answer 8

-Media influence
-Media coverage can influence jurors decisions, esp in high profile cases, lots of publicity about police investigation. May use the information online which is biased to form decision rather than actual evidence presented in court
-R v Taylor and Taylor: media released still pictures of 2 sisters on trial. Gave false impression of what happened. Judge had to allow leave to appeal as evidence would’ve impacted jury

Question 9

Open system of justice

Answer 9

Makes justice system more open, members of the public have a key role and whole process public. Helps keep law clear as points explained to jury

Question 10

Contrast to open system of justice

Answer 10

-Racial or gender bias
-Jurors have no direct interest in case, may be biases - eg against police. Jurors who are racially prejudiced
-Reason why those with criminal convictions excluded from doing jury service
-Sander: one juror wrote to judge with concerns about other jurors making openly racist remarks. In this case the judge should have discharged as risk of racial bias