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What is the role of the jury in criminal and civil cases
- Essay length: 764 words
- Submitted: 29/05/2010
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Marked by teacher:
Nick Price
Teacher essay summary
This answer shows a good understanding of the wide role of juries in civil and criminal courts. However there is a fair amount of material included that is not relevant to a descriptive question such as the one set.
In the section about criminal courts the answer could be improved by setting out the different verdicts that a jury can be required to return such as unanimous and majority verdicts and the mechanics of how jury discussions take place.
Rating ***
Marked by teacher Nick Price 03/04/2012
The first 200 words of this essay...
A) What is the role of the jury in criminal and civil cases?
Trial by the jury is an ancient and democratic institution within the legal system. The idea is based upon the principle of trial by ones peers and the right to a fair trial dating back to the Magna Carta and Article 6 ECHR. In the words of Lord Devlin, juries are "The lamp that shows that freedom lives". Juries are randomly selected from the public and are the sole deciders of guilt based on fact as seen in R v Bushell 1670. However, they also have the power to acquit defendants based on conscience, even if the evidence demands a guilty verdict, this is known as "jury equity". The concept of "jury equity" signifies that jurors are free from outside influence for example, in R v Wang and more recently in the 'Kingsnorth Six' Greenpeace case. The jury must come to a unanimous or majority decision in order to conclude a verdict.
Juries are used in all criminal cases at first instance in the Crown Court. They try the most serious indictable offences such as murder and also either way offences such
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MbT essay summary
This answer shows a good understanding of the wide role of juries in civil and criminal courts. However there is a fair amount of material included that is not relevant to a descriptive question such as the one set.
In the section about criminal courts the answer could be improved by setting out the different verdicts that a jury can be required to return such as unanimous and majority verdicts and the mechanics of how jury discussions take place.
Rating ***
