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"Measure
for Measure"
Shakespeare
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"The jury, passing on the
prisoner's life,
May in the sworn twelve have a
thief or two
Guiltier than him they try."
|
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The jury oath |
Jurors swear an oath, or affirm, that they will "faithfully try the defendant
and give a true verdict according to the evidence." |
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Judicial immunity |
Jurymen
are invested with judicial immunity. They have full judicial privilege and are
not accountable for anything said or done in the discharge of their office, and
any threats or abusive language directed towards them as jurymen is punishable
as contempt of court. |
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Convention on Human Rights applies to juries |
As a
judicial tribunal it must comply with the requirements of article 6(1) of the
European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair trial) which in
Gregory v United Kingdom (1997) the UK system was found to do. |
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Research into jury behaviour. |
It is a common law rule
(supported by
Section 8(1) of
the Contempt of Court Act 1981) that no one (juror or not)
to disclose details of what was said in the jury room, or for anyone other than
a juror to try to obtain such details. To do is is an offence.
This makes properly
conducted research into the jury impossible, even by judges and academics.
Although, Penny Darbyshire publishes some research
here (pdf file) |
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The
Auld Review |
Some of
the recommendations of Lord Justice Auld's review in the Criminal Courts have
been implement, for example jury selection, others have not, the relevant
section of his report on juries is
here |
|
Main legislation is the Juries Act 1974 as amended
by the
Criminal Justice Act 2003
and the
Contempt of Court Act 1981 |
|
In R
v Connor and Mirza (Conjoined Appeals) [2004]HL) it was revealed that
only 1% of criminal cases is there a trial by a judge and jury. |
