AO1 - Role of Juries

• Jury is only used for Crown court where the defendant pleads not guilty - jury trials are used for 2% of all criminal cases which is fewer than 30,000 cases per year
• 12 jurors sit in the Crown court and hear trials on indictment
• They listen to evidence and the judges summing up
• It is the jurors responsibility to make decisions based on a question of fact, not law - the judge advises them due to no legal qualifications
• Judge can give a direct acquittal where the evidence is not strong enough
• The jury decides guilty or not guilty and they discuss this secretly in the jury room. They do not give reasons for their decisions
• The Criminal Courts and Justice Act 2015 makes it a criminal offence to intentionally disclose or ask anything about what happened in the jury room except for when it is in the interest of justice