Sustainable juries: thinking outside peer criminal jury trials

Gray, Anthony and Barnett, Eola (2010) Sustainable juries: thinking outside peer criminal jury trials. Journal of Judicial Administration, 20 (1). pp. 18-38. ISSN 1036-7918

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Abstract

This paper acknowledges the traditional arguments in favour of a jury system but notes some practical difficulties with their use, in particular relating to jurors’ understanding of what can be complex evidence, the decision processes used by some jurors to reach conclusions, and the extent to which jurors understand and apply the concept of reasonable doubt. If they ever were truly representative of the population, they are not today given the ease with which some are able to exempt themselves from service, and the system by which potential jurors can be challenged. It argues for greater education of jurors in key concepts associated with the criminal trial, and the use of special juries in some complex cases where the circumstances of the trial make it unlikely that a typical jury would understand the case or the evidence, compromising their ability to discharge their important function.

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Item Type:	Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	Accepted version deposited in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Business - School of Law (1 Apr 2007 - 31 Dec 2010)
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Business - School of Law (1 Apr 2007 - 31 Dec 2010)
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2010 04:57
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2013 23:57
Uncontrolled Keywords:	jury; beyond reasonable doubt; public confidence; representative jury; juries; evidence
Fields of Research (2008):	18 Law and Legal Studies > 1801 Law > 180120 Legal Institutions (incl. Courts and Justice Systems) 16 Studies in Human Society > 1602 Criminology > 160203 Courts and Sentencing 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1702 Cognitive Sciences > 170204 Linguistic Processes (incl. Speech Production and Comprehension)
Fields of Research (2020):	48 LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES > 4805 Legal systems > 480504 Legal institutions (incl. courts and justice systems) 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4402 Criminology > 440203 Courts and sentencing 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology > 520499 Cognitive and computational psychology not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	C Society > 94 Law, Politics and Community Services > 9404 Justice and the Law > 940406 Legal Processes
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/8351

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