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A jury is a 'body of persons convened to render an impartial Verdict (finding of fact) on a legal question officially submitted to them, or to set a Penalty or judgement in a Jury trial of a court of law.Overview
In most criminal justice systems which require juries, panels are initially selected at random from the adult population of the district served by the Court concerned. A person who is serving on (is a member of) a jury is known as a juror.
The requirements for a jury are fairly universal. The number of jurors must be a specified size (often but not always 12), and since there is always the possibility of jurors not completing the trial for health or other reasons, often some alternate jurors are nominated, who will also follow the trial (but do not take part in deciding the verdict), as a precaution in case a new juror is needed part way through the trial.
Serving on a jury is normally compulsory if a citizen is chosen (exceptions and exclusions vary between jurisdictions and are discussed below). Since a jury is intended to be an impartial panel capable of reaching a verdict, there are often procedures and requirements, for instance, fluent understanding of the language, or the ability to test jurors or otherwise exclude jurors who might be perceived as less than neutral or more partial to hear one side or the other.
The jurors hear the cases presented by both the defense and prosecution, and in some jurisdictions a summing-up from the Judge. They then retire as a group to consider a Verdict. The majority required for a verdict varies. In some countries their decision making process is private and may not be disclosed, in others it may be discussed but only after the trial has ended.
In Common law countries such as Great Britain and the United States, the role of the jury is the "finder of fact", while the Judge has the sole responsibility of interpreting the appropriate law and instructing the jury accordingly. Occasionally, a jury may find the defendant "not guilty" even though he violated the law if the jury thinks that the law is invalid or unjust. This is commonly referred to as Jury nullification. When there is no jury ("bench trial"), the Judge makes factual rulings in addition to legal ones. In most European jurisdictions, the Judges have more power in a trial and the role and powers of a jury are often restricted.
Actual jury law and trial procedures differ between countries.
The concept of a modern jury trial stems back to Magna Carta, which gave English nobles and freemen the right to be tried by a panel of their peers, rather than by summary judgment of the King or other official who often had the utter power to impose his own arbitrary judgment. The concept can also be traced to Normandy before 1066, when a jury of nobles was established to decide land disputes. In this manner, the Duke, being the largest land owner, could not act as a judge in his own case. Many ancient cultures had similar concepts, notably ancient Judea whose panel of judges called the Sanhedrin served a similar purpose. The Athenians by 500 BCE had also invented the jury court, with votes by Secret ballot. These courts were eventually granted the power to annul Unconstitutional laws, thus introducing Judicial review.
In the United States, potential jurors form the jury in waiting or jury pool. Jurors are picked by a selection process. If the jury in waiting is exhausted without the jury being completed the clerk of the court has to ask the jury assembly area to send more jurors.
Selected jurors are generally subjected to a system of examination whereby both the prosecution (or plaintiff, in a civil case) and defense can object to a juror. In Common law countries, this is known as Voir dire. The method and scope of the possible rejections varies between countries:Verdicts
Some jurisdictions allow majority verdicts in criminal cases if a juror becomes unfit to continue, or if a judge permits it when a jury is deadlocked. Certain jurisdictions require a minimum number of jurors to agree, but in others (notably Scotland) a simple majority is acceptable. Other than that, there are no restrictions on how a jury may proceed to reach such a verdict, and no set time limit. Occasionally juries deliberate for several days. Usually initially a judge will instruct a jury not to contemplate a majority verdict. After a time, if no verdict is forthcoming, the judge will recall the jury and instruct them that he is prepared to consider one.
In English law, the jury's deliberations must not be disclosed outside the jury, even after the case, and to repeat parts of them is contempt of court and can result in imprisonment. In the USA this rule does not apply, and sometimes jurors have made remarks that called into question whether a verdict was properly arrived at.
Sometimes a jury will take a wider view than the judge's summing up, and reach a verdict influenced by or based on their view of the public interest - that is, whether they think it right, all things considered, for the defendant to be convicted of a crime. Verdicts which appear not to apply the law to the evidence are sometimes called "perverse" verdicts.
Because of the desire to prevent undue influence on a jury, Jury tampering is a serious crime, whether attempted through bribery, threat of violance, or other means.
This is not the practice in most other legal systems based on the English tradition, in which judges retain sole responsibility for deciding sentences according to law. The exception is the award of damages in English law libel cases, although a judge is now obliged to make a recommendation to the jury as to the appropriate amount.
There is no set format for jury deliberations, and the jury will take a period of time to settle into discussing the evidence. In theory electing a foreman is the first step, although for a short or straightforward case this may not happen until the delivery of the verdict.
If a foreman is elected at the beginning, he or she will chair the discussions, and it is his or her job to try and steer the jury towards a conclusion. The first step will typically be to find out the initial feeling or reaction to the case, which may be by a show of hands. The jury will then attempt to arrive at a consensus verdict.
The exchanges of views caused by people whose opinions differ from the emerging consensus will air the issues involved in the case, and consequently points will often arise from the trial that were not specifically discussed during it. The result of these discussions is likely to be that one interpretation is shown to be the most reasonable, and a verdict is thus arrived at.
In the US, juries are used in both Criminal law and Civil law trials, though they are quite different.
In criminal law, separate juries are convened to decide if a suspect should be indicted (formally charged with a crime) - a Grand jury - and if the suspect should be found guilty - a petit jury. In many areas, depending upon the law, a third jury will determine what the penalty should be or recommend what the penalty should be in the penalty phase. When used alone the term jury usually refers to a petit jury.
In each court district, a group of 16-23 citizens holds an inquiry on criminal complaints brought by the prosecutor and decides if a trial is warranted, in which case an indictment is issued. In general, the size of juries tends to be larger if the crime alleged is more serious. If a Grand Jury rejects a proposed indictment it is known as a "no bill"; if they accept to endorse a proposed indictment it is known as a "true bill".
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to jury trial in both state and federal criminal proceedings, although in practice most criminal actions in the US are resolved by Plea bargain. Juries are also used in many civil cases in the United States, and the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution explicitly protects the right to a jury trial in civil cases tried in the United States District Courts.
Jury selection is a rather complicated process. A jury is made up from a list of citizens living in the jurisdiction of the court. When selected, being a juror is in principle compulsory. However, jurors can be dismissed for several reasons and many people are released from serving on a jury. People can, for instance, claim hardship if they take care of their children, or claim to be biased. In the words of legal expert Homer Simpson, a jury is not "a jury of one's peers", but is instead "twelve people too stupid to get out of jury duty."