Juries

• Lay people


  Someone who makes decisions in the legal process but is not legally qualified
• Lay people in the legal system

  • Juries
  • Magistrates
  • Crown Court
  • Magistrates' Court
• Jury qualifications


  • Aged between 18 and 75 (must be under 76)
  • Registered to vote
  • Resident in the UK for at least 5 years since the age of 13
• Jury disqualification


  • Permanently disqualified: Life imprisonment, Imprisonment for five years or more
  • Disqualified for 10 years: Imprisonment for less than 5 years, Anyone who has been given a Community Order in the last ten years, Had a suspended sentence in the last 10 years
  • Temporarily disqualified: Disqualified if currently on bail
• Jury ineligibility


  • Mentally disordered person is not eligible
  • Deaf person can now sit on a jury
  • Being blind does not automatically make a person ineligible
• Right to be excused from jury service

  The only category of person that can be excused are the full time members of the navy, military or air forces
• Potential reasons to be excused from jury service

  • Being too ill to attend court
  • Death or illness of a close relative
  • Being a mother with a small baby
  • Having an important business meeting or exam
  • Having a holiday that has already been booked
• The court is likely to defer jury service to a more convenient date rather than excuse the person completely
• Jury selection


  • Jurors names are selected at random from the electoral register
  • Letters are sent to those who have been chosen - 7 days given to respond
  • Those chosen are expected to attend for two weeks jury service
  • Jury service is compulsory
  • Failure to attend is a contempt of court and can result in a fine
• How jurors are chosen

  1. At the start of the trial 15 jurors are chosen to go into the court room

  2. The court clerk will choose 12 at random

  3. Jurors are then shown a DVD about their role and how to behave in court
• Vetting of jurors


  • Prosecution and defence can see the list of jurors to check them for suitability
  • Routine Police Checks to make sure none of the chosen jury members are disqualified
  • Wider background checks on jurors' political beliefs, only done in cases of national security with permission from the Attorney General
• Challenging jurors


  • For Cause - Challenge on a single juror because they know or are related to the defendant or a witness
  • To the array - Challenge to the whole jury because it is unrepresentative or biased
  • Prosecution right to stand by an individual juror - Putting a juror at the end of the list of potential jurors with no reason given
• Jury service is compulsory and failure to attend is a contempt of court and can result in a fine
• Juries are used in the Crown Court
• Juries must be able to hear the evidence in court
• Challenging the whole panel is done because it is unrepresentative or biased