JURY IN UK

Jury in United Kingdom

[Institution Name]Jury in United Kingdom

Introduction

A jury is a body of people who do not possess legal qualification but have become a controversial issue within the context of the English legal system. Jury is an institution existing in history of English Law since ages. It is the ancient and democratic law institution where everybody has the right to put forward their opinion and point of views regarding a case to trial. In UK, the panel that forms a jury is randomly selected from a list of potential jurors who appear on the electoral register. The age of jurors should be between 18 and 70 years, and should be a UK resident.

The discussion here is over the necessity and use of juries, and the issues that have arisen in connection with juries in, both, civil and criminal trials in United Kingdom. Use of juries has become an essential part of the democratic society of UK as the defendant has the right to be trialed under the English legal system.

Discussion

A jury in, both, criminal and civil cases carry out different roles in each case being trialed. The jury plays its part as a 'Fact Finder' in guiding the Judge to administer the appropriate law and instigate the trial before the jury. The jury has the right to nullify the judge's verdict on the basis of the decision leading to an unjust verdict. This is also known as 'Nullification' or 'Jury Equity'. This right enables a jury to make a democratic, reasonable and unbiased decision in the trial of a case.

I personally believe juries are necessary. The justification for juries being necessary is from its definition of 'Trial by PEERS'. Trials by the peers make provision for the defendant to present his point of view in committing any misconduct and identify with the approach of thinking of the jurors. Biases may infer the decision of a judge without a jury trial. The legitimacy in the English law system is with the existence of juries as they represent the society in which we live. In some cases, juries may not be strictly important and necessary, but worth preserving in its true sense.

Civil cases in limited circumstances use juries for deciding on a case. The jury plays two key roles in vindicating a decision on a civil case; the claimant has sufficiently filed and completed their case and on proof, the defendant is obliged to pay damages based on the jury's decision. Often the defendant and the claimant will request a jury trial resume as a mechanism to force the other side to reconsider its position. In fact, there are frequent cases in which both parties request a jury trial resumes. The jury trials are conducted on civil issues like false imprisonment, defamation, malicious prosecution and fraud.

In the case Ward v. James (1966), Lord Denning delivered a judgment with an appeal that personal injury cases required more technicality and expertise in assessing the damages and the purpose cannot be solely served by ...