| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 4:11:02 AM | I've done jury service a couple of times. It's not a waste of time, it's part of the responsibilities of citizenship. You never know if you'll end up in the dock, so it's something that you should take as seriously as you'd hope your jury would.
It's also one of the most important rights in british law. It's only when you are part of a jury that you have a chance to directly shape the law system in this country. If you're not an MP or a judge, then this will be one of your primary opportunities to do so.
Remember that you are not just sitting as a jury assessing the person who is charged, you are also assessing the law that they have been charged with breaking. Should you choose to find them innocent, even though they may have commited the acts that they were charged with, then it is the law that they were charged under that is being judged.
You also have the right and the responsibility to ask questions of everyone involved. You have the right to ask questions of every witness, every barrister, and the judge. USE IT!
You cannot ask questions directly, you have to write them down and the judge will ask them for you. But they have to follow through with what you ask.
In one case i was a juror on, it became obvious that the police hadn't bothered to check through the evidence in someone's email. That only came out because i asked the right questions.
That's one of the main strength's of the jury system. The range of experiences and the range of backgrounds that all of the juror's came from meant that they got a cross-section of everyone from here.
Do the job properly. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 4:11:05 AM | How do they pick the jury?
I think they randomly pick from the electoral register to begin with.
Then when you are actually called in there, it seems that a group of around 16 people are randomly picked for a certain case out of a room full of people. Then when you are selected to go into the courtroom, around 8 of the 16 (I forget how many exactly now), of the group are picked to be on jury and the rest go back to the waiting process. This carries on until you have been whittled down until your selected I think?... That seemed like the process to me. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 4:41:47 AM | I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a juror, it was interesting to see how it all works, and how different people responded to their responsibility
In one case I even got to be Foreman, although having to deliver a "guilty" verdict against a well-known local thug was quite scary.
I was also shocked that some jurors based their verdict purely on whether someone "looked" guilty, and no amount of evidence to the contrary could convince them otherwise. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 4:48:12 AM |
In one case I even got to be Foreman, although having to deliver a "guilty" verdict against a well-known local thug was quite scary.
I still reckon you made the wrong decision ..............Julian Cleary did not handle that sawn off !! | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 5:22:24 AM |
I still reckon you made the wrong decision ..............Julian Cleary did not handle that sawn off !!
TBH I was more concerned about his congealed weapon! | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 6:04:42 AM | | I had to do jury service a few years ago, what a waste of time it was. I had to go and sit in a hot stuffy room for about 2-3 hours each day waiting to see if I was chosen for a jury only to be sent home before lunchtime each day and told that I should go to work in the afternoon as the court were only going to pay me for half a day, then on Wednesday of the second week I was told that I wouldn't be needed on Thursday or Friday. I never got picked for a jury. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 6:25:06 AM | scints,they just take random names of the voters roll.............
been picked once..............fcuk that..up here,aye right.........simple solution to that is to phone them and tell them you can't come and they go on about yes you have to etc etc.then you hit them with the killer line.......i have convictions..........letter=bin.........easy | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 6:29:56 AM | i sentence them all to the gulag - never been called incidentally *smiles
i deamnded slippers, muffins and padded corner,
and 30 rock made me giggle where they turned up as princess leia
that a side you need a potentially large number of different individuals to formulate an unbiased opinion, allegedly along with lawyers of equal skill..so i basically agree witht he 12 angry men scenerio OP. (which is a rather good film btw)
sure why not sometimes facts come into it
you cannot have a judicial body influenced by outside influences sat upon whatever it is the sit atop off dictating new law...a bit like eg parliament when its an ideology or the party line on the basis the people voted them to speak for them - where is they are voted into office to speak sense and do the correct thingie - which lets face it almost never happens.
Ive said to much
totters of for muffins most supreme in nature | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 7:17:58 AM |
Some people feel that 12 jurers (sic) should not be allowed to decide the guilt or innocence of a defendant as they have no formal legal qualifications.
Having previously worked "within the system", as well as being someone who's interested in news/current affairs, this is generally nonsense. There are a very small number of trials which are better off without a jury, mainly extremely complex fraud trials. The jury system, despite its failings, is infinitely preferable to other forms of trial.
Having been on this case a whole week, I think the 12 of us are so completely diverse, different backgrounds, cultures, professions etc...that we are in fact giving a very fair and balanced argument to the hearing. What do you think about this?
I think that is part of the strength of the jury system. However, it's a known fact that more intelligent and older, wiser people will avoid jury service if they can! So it may not have been quite as "diverse" as you thought. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 11:19:58 AM |
I think that is part of the strength of the jury system. However, it's a known fact that more intelligent and older, wiser people will avoid jury service if they can! So it may not have been quite as "diverse" as you thought.
I don't yet know the occupations of my fellow jurors, but I could easily say age-wise we have 3 in their 20s, and 2 in each age decade up to and including their 60s, and six men and six women. | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/4/2009 11:25:02 AM |
that we are in fact giving a very fair and balanced argument to the hearing
how does this work, I thought you listen to facts, not make assumptions or let personal feelings decide if he is guilty or not guilty of the crime the prosecution is charging him with | |
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| Jury Service
Posted: 8/10/2009 12:41:01 AM | | Mr Cargy that must have been worrying to know that the man was a thug. I was under the impression that if you recognise someone even by reputation then you have to opt out of the case when you are picked otherwise it isnt a fair trial? | |
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