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A jury is a sworn (French juré) 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. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A jury trial is a trial in which the judge of the facts, as opposed to the judge of the law, is a jury, made up of citizens who are usually randomly selected and are generally not legal professionals. ... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Law Law topics overview List of areas of law List of legal topics List of legal terms List of jurists List of legal abbreviations List of case law lists List of law firms Further reading Cheyenne Way: Conflict & Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence, Karl... A penalty is a punishment: a legal sentence, e. ... Judgment or judgement implies a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision. ... A jury trial is a trial in which the judge of the facts, as opposed to the judge of the law, is a jury, made up of citizens who are usually randomly selected and are generally not legal professionals. ... This article is about courts 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. Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ...

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. A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ...

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. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Look up Country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical territory. ... Jury nullification is a jurys refusal to render a verdict according to the law, as instructed by the court, regardless of the weight of evidence presented. ...

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. Magna Carta placed certain checks on the absolute power of the English Monarchs. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ... Freeman can mean: A person who has been awarded Freedom of the City. ... The word king has many meanings: For the head of state, see Monarch. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... Events January 6 - Harold II is crowned King of England the day after Edward the Confessor dies. ... Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (יהודה Praise, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew , Greek: Ιουδαία, Russian: Иудея) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael), an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank... For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... The Polling by William Hogarth (1755); Before the secret ballot was introduced voter intimidation was commonplace The secret ballot is a process in elections where the choice of the voters is kept confidential. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into constitutionality. ... Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ...

Selection

A common method for drafting jurors is to draw them at random from electoral rolls (known as allotment or sortition). The most common exclusions are for people whose job in some way precludes them (for instance, teachers, doctors, firefighters, people who themselves work in the criminal justice system), are caring for young children, have an interest in the case, or who have health problems or serious criminal records. In some jurisdictions in the United States, prior legal education or being a lawyer may also be a reason to be exempted, under the theory that a legal professional may be overly influential to other jurors. However, in recent years, many jurisdictions have eliminated these exemptions. An allotment may be used in at least three ways: allotment (financial) allotment (gardening) allotment (radio) See also: apportionment This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Sortition is the method of random selection, particularly in relation to the selection of decision makers. ... In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill, including learning and thinking skills. ... Firefighter in full turn out gear with a pickhead axe. ... The study of criminal justice traditionally revolves around three main components of the criminal justice system: police courts corrections Nowadays, it is sometimes argued that psychiatry is also a central part of the criminal justice system. ... In the United States, a lawyer is a person licensed by the state to advise clients in legal matters and represent them in courts of law and in other forms of dispute resolution. ...

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: This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... The phrase voir dire derives from Middle French; in modern English it is interpreted to mean speak the truth and generally refers to the process by which prospective jurors are questioned about their backgrounds and potential biases before being invited to sit on a jury. ...

• In England these objections would have to be very well based, such as the defendant knowing a potential juror, to be allowed.
• Some jurisdictions, such as France and New Zealand give both the defense and prosecution a specific number of unconditional peremptory challenges. No justifications have to be brought to exclude a specific juror. Generally, defense attorneys exclude jurors who have professions or backgrounds similar to that of the victim and who could thus feel an emotional link to them, while prosecuting attorneys exclude jurors who might show affinity to the defendant.
• Some systems allow argument over whether a juror's particular background or beliefs make them biased and therefore unsuitable for service on the jury. In the United States, and probably other nations, it is hardly unknown for citizens to quite deliberately get out of jury duty (for example by mentioning knowledge of legal concepts).

Peremptory challenge usually refers to a right in jury selection for the parties to a court case to reject a certain number of potential jurors without having to give any reason. ... For with(out) prejudice in law, see Prejudice (law). ...

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. This article refers to legal deliberation; for other meanings of the word refer to its Wiktionary entry. ...

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.

Secrecy and independence

For juries to fulfill their role to analyze the facts of the case, there are strict rules about their use of information during the trial. They are not allowed to learn about the case from any source other than the trial. Nobody involved in the trial is allowed to speak with a member of the jury, and they are not allowed to read news or other accounts of the trial. In order to achieve this goal in high-profile cases some juries are sequestered either for the deliberation phase, or for the entire trial. Typically after the trial is complete the jurors are free to speak about the case openly.

Because of the desire to prevent undue influence on a jury, jury tampering is a serious crime, whether attempted through bribery, threat of violence, or other means. Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. ...

Imposition of penalties for guilty verdicts

In the United States, some juries are also empowered to consider some aspects of a defendant's sentence, if the defendant has been convicted. This is now a requirement in all death penalty cases. Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ...

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. English law is the law of England and Wales, rather than Scotland and Northern Ireland. ...

Trial procedures

France (Napoleonic code)

In France and similarly organized jurisdictions, the jury sits on an equal footing with three professional judges. The jury and judges first consider the questions of guilt. Then, if applicable, they consider the penalty to apply.

United States and England (Common Law)

In the United States, if no verdict can be reached by the jury (a situation sometimes referred to as a hung jury), a mistrial is declared, and the case must be retried with a newly constituted jury. The practice generally was that the jury rules only on questions of facts on guilt; setting the penalty was reserved for the judge. This has been changed by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court such as Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), which found Arizona's practice that had the judge (in a trial by jury) to decide if the penalty in a capital case should be life or death to be unconstitutional, and reserved that decision for the jury. (The judge can, however, overrule the jury and reduce the penalty to life if she or he chooses, although this is unheard of.) A hung jury is a jury whose required majority cannot reach or agree upon a unanimous verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is deadlocked with irreconcilable differences of opinion. ... Mistrial. ... Ring v. ... Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ...

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. Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ...

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 the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offence. ... A grand jury is a type of common law jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. ...

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. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ... The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ...

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." This article can be confusing for some readers, and needs to be edited for clarity. ...

See also

• Fully Informed Jury Association
• Jury instructions
• Jury nullification
• Jury trial
• People's jury

The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) is a United States national jury education organization, incorporated in Montana, USA, as a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization. ... Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors must follow when the jury is deciding a case. ... Jury nullification is a jurys refusal to render a verdict according to the law, as instructed by the court, regardless of the weight of evidence presented. ... A jury trial is a trial in which the judge of the facts, as opposed to the judge of the law, is a jury, made up of citizens who are usually randomly selected and are generally not legal professionals. ... Though they can take very different forms from each other, a peoples jury or citizens jury generally aims to provide an opportunity for people to express an informed view on a subject according to their own principles. ...

External links

• Guide to California Jury Service
• Court of assizes in Belgium (including info about the jury)
• Guide to Jury Service in England and Wales

References

D. J. A. Cairns, Advocacy and the Making of the Adversarial Criminal Trial, 1800-1865 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998)