criminal courts and lay people

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 and the jury. During the trailb the jur must lsiten to the prosecution and defence present their case. 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. The jury retires to the deliberating room, where they elect a fore person who will speak to the court…