DONT USE

Jurors are randomly selected from the electoral roll, to serve on a jury at the crown court. To be eligible you must: of lived in the UK/Isle of Man for atleast 5 years from the age of 13, be 18-75 and live in the local area. Under the CJA 2003, you cannot serve on a jury while on bail,following certain criminal convictions (public protection/in the past 10 years/community orders) or if you have serious mental health problems. Anyone can apply for deferral for good reason (exams,operations etc.) You can be excused if you're over 65, have served in the last 2 years, a member of the armed forces, an MP or certain medical professionals.

Those who are eligible are selected in groups of 15. The jruy then goes through jury vetting which is when a check is conducted to ensure they're suitable for that trail (e.g can't be racist on a racial abuse trial). Then challenges can be made by the prosecution or defence. A challenge to the array is when the whole jury is challengedbecause theyre unrepresentative, this can not be because it's not multicultural (R v Ford). There may also be a challenge for the cause, this is when one particular jury member is challenged e.g they may know those involved with the trial. The prosecution can stand by jurors, this means someone may be unsuitable for a particular trial but not ineligible altogether so they are moved to the back of the 15 to wait for another trial. When 12 suitable jury members are found they are sworn in and hear the trial.

In court there’s a partnership between the judge (master of law) and the jury (master of facts). During the trial, the jury must listen to the prosecution and defence and take notes. The prosecution begins with the evidence in chief followed by the cross examination by the defence, then the defence will provide their evidence in chief to which the prosecution will conduct a cross examination. After the closing speeches, the judge summarises the case to the jury and guides them on the law, the jurors must then apply the law to the facts of the case, and from there reach a verdict. 

To reach this verdict, the jury retires to the deliberating room. At this point the jury must elect a foreperson who will speak to the court on their behalf. In the deliberating room, they must decide on the facts and evidence provided to them; they will do that through discussing the matter as a group and voting. However a jury may decide on a case however they wish as everything said in the jury room must stay in the jury room (S8 contempt of court act 1981). However the jury must attempt to decided unanimously, but at the judge’s discretion under S17 Juries Act 1974 the judge can allow 11-1 and even 10-2 in dire cases. Once a decision has been reached by the jury, they return to the court…