JURIES

Question 1

WHEN JURIES ARE USED

Answer 1

• Crown court for indictable/triable either way
• High court
• County court
• Coroner’s court
  Only around 1% of all criminal cases

Question 2

s43 Criminal Justice Act 2003

Answer 2

Juries may not be used in complex cases such as fraud

Question 3

R v Twomey

Answer 3

Trial without Jury, if severe risk of jury tampering

Question 4

ROLE

Answer 4

• Jurors examine evidence presented in court, and then retire to come to a decision
• Unanimous is preferred, but 11/1 or 10/2 can be accepted. Anything below 10/2 is a hung jury. (Juries Act 1974)

Question 5

ELIGIBILITY

Answer 5

• Electoral register
• Aged 18-75
• A UK resident for at least 5 years.
• Auld Report recommended these changes, due to many people being able to avoid jury duty (Judges, members of the legal profession, police)

Question 6

CONTEMPT OF COURT

Answer 6

R v Dallas = Juror researched information about the case
Joanne Frail = talked to the defendant on Facebook

Question 7

JURY CHALLENGING

Answer 7

• Racial challenges - R v Ford - argued that the Juries Act violated his right to a fair trial under the ECHR. Failed.
• Challenge for the cause - a request that a juror is dismissed because they cannot be fair or impartial
• Challenge to the array - a challenge of the whole jury panel on the grounds that the summoning officer was biased/acted improperly

Question 8

Pre-Juries Act

Answer 8

Guilford 4, Birmingham 6

Question 9

REFORM

Answer 9

• Lowered eligibility age to 16
• Choosing names from National Insurance number register

Question 10

ADVANTAGES

Answer 10

• Fair verdict instead of legally correct, e.g. R v Owen
• 12 opinions > one judge opinion

Question 11

DISADVANTAGES

Answer 11

• Jurors may not understand the case presented to them, R v Pryce showed that 43% didn’t understand everything
• R v Young - we don’t know how juries reach their verdicts