Society and its Attraction to Jury Trial Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Society and its Attraction to Jury Trial - strain ExampleFurthermore, the individual jurors, chosen randomly, often face a lot of pressure in the realise of intricate and lengthy case proceedings, which atomic number 18 unjustified and often lead to negative impact on the case outcome. There have been issues as regards the jury expertise on objectivity of decisions taken, as nigh experts argued that jury trials tend to be more emotional or sentimental (hence biased) in nature, rather than world logical, thus, lureing more than the due sh be of media and society attention.2 In fact, Penny Darbyshire describes the jury ashes as an anti-democratic, irrational, and every which way legislator, whose erratic and secret decisions run counter to the rule of law.3 Such problems as pointed by the critics are inherent within the UK jury trial system, leading to demands for bringing in radical reforms in the UK healthy policies and for abolishment of this m either centuries old celebrat ed institution of criminal justice. The office staff of the juries within the legal system translates to the simple fact that legally unqualified people (the layman) are given significance within the highly specialised profession of law, and their assistance taken to provide justice to the public. The chief function of the jury is to learn to the facts make uped during the case proceedings and based on these facts produce a verdict (in terms of case gag rule within criminal/ civil cases), of guilty or not guilty. This essay will examine the role of the jury and explore the advantages and disadvantages of the system to seek whether Roskill had rightfully claimed that jury trials do not deliver justice, as they are more sentimental and emotionally driven, instead of being logical in nature, and tend to attract more media and society attraction than necessary. Discussion The jury system in UK Jury system in UK has been in vogue for more than 1,000 years, and according to some repor ts even existed before the Norman Conquest.4 The jury system, thus, incessantly played a significant part in balancing the British legal system. In the present legal scenario, jury independence is given a great deal of importance, where many feel that juries should not be meddled with or pressurised, while deciding a case. The position of the juries as the solo arbiters in a case was evident in the famous Bulshell case of 1670, 5 and in the more recent R v Mc Kenna (1960).6 In both the cases, the independent roles of juries were highlighted, where they had acted separately from the judge, while taking a decision. plot of land selecting a jury, an official at the Crown Court selects jurors randomly, from the official data system, and even though only a 12-member jury is needed for a case hearing, more members are generally selected, to provide for any absentee jury members.7 In England and Wales there are three forms of criminal offences, where summary offences (ones considered as being of marginal seriousness) can be tried only at the Magistrates Court, with two to three magistrates in presence.8 Criminal offences that are more serious in nature and categorised as