Juries

Benefits
Representative of society ideally little/ no bias
Juries appear mostly in the crown court
Unpaid/unqualified
You are summoned to court by letter-jury summomes
If you do not qualify you will not serve on the jury
Most people over age of 18 and under 70 may sit on a jury
'Jury pool'
Disqualified if you are currently in bail, have ever been given a prison sentence of 5 years or more, have ever been given sentence of a community sentence in the last 10 years, are mentally ill (requires treatment) , haven't lived in the U.K. for a minimum of 5 years
Deferral- can postpone jury service if got holiday booked, exams or pregnancy
Excusal- don't have to do jury service at all, reasons include insufficient English to follow p proceedings, physical incapacity or a long term diability or an active member of the armed forces eg: the army or Royal Air Force
The role of the jury is to decide the verdict- this will be either guilty or not guilty. They have no say in sentencing,they listen to evidence and can have further explanation from the judge if necessary.
Deliberations- they discuss the facts and evidence with each other- this is done in secret. Only 12 members of jury are allowed in the room

The verdict- the jury foreman delivers the verdict. This must be unanimous (all 12) after a period of 2 hours the judge may accept a majority of no less that 10/2.
Advantages= public confidence in juries is high, 13 different people so more opinions reduces the margin for error.
Disadvantages= unauthorised methods may be used! lack of legal knowledge may be a disadvantage when following proceedings.