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Student ID Number: G20867646 Seminar Tutor: Zohra Gunglee Module Title: Legal System Programme Title: LLB(Hons) English & Mauritian Law Module Code: LW1102 Year of Study: 2020 Word Count: 1476 What counts as contributing to your word count? All quotations do. The bibliography does not. Footnotes do not, but only as long as you restrict their use to citation and very marginal comments. Do not try to circumvent the word limit by making substantive points in your footnotes. Plagiarism Declaration By attaching this front cover sheet to my assignment I confirm and declare that I am the sole author of this work, except where otherwise acknowledged by appropriate referencing and citation, and that I have taken all reasonable skill and care to ensure that no other person has been able, or allowed, to copy this work in either paper or electronic form, and that prior to submission I have read, understood and followed the University regulations at http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/sss/quality/regulations/ section_g.php#G7_UnfairMeans_to_Enhance_Performance Assessment Criteria Available in your handbook and on Blackboard. Self-Evaluation: Simply rate how you think this assessment will perform against the assessment criteria; i.e. 1st^ (very good/excellent), 2:1 (good), 2: (competent), 3rd^ (basic), fail (weak, very weak). In order to ensure the assessment process is fair, we want to make sure that the assessment criteria are clear to you in advance. This helps us provide detailed comments on your work and clarify things you do not understand Understanding, including knowledge 2: Applying, including analysis and evaluation 2: Researching, including range of sources, 1 st
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The right to a jury trial is a deeply entrenched constitutional fundamental right.^1 It is viewed to hold a crucial part in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. In this essay, the purpose and operation of the jury trial in the UK will be discussed along with its strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the proposals regarding the suspension for now of the jury trial owing to the current pandemic of the Covid-19 will be analysed and assess its related effects. A person’s right to trial by jury has been enshrined in English law since Magna Carta.^2. In Ward v James^3 , Lord Denning regarded the jury as the ‘bulwark of the liberties’ of the individual against the state. The jury system has two main fundamental purposes: dealing with the facts of the case and ensuring a fair trial. One of the main purposes of the jury trial system is the sense of fairness that it accords to the justice system. The jury assesses the reliability of a witness then appraise the weight that should be given to any piece of evidence and to determine the existence or non-existence of the facts in the case. This was supported by the case of R v Gilderdale where the defendant was charged under section 2 of Suicide Act^4 as he and his daughter made an agreement where the defendant killed his daughter. The jury acquitted the defendant. The judge appraised the jury for showing their “common sense, decency and humanity.^5 Jury trials appear generally the Crown court and it is bound by law that jury trial can occur in country and the coroners court as per as the Coroners and Justice (^1) Vickneshwaren Krishnan, English Legal System (2nd edn, Old Bailey Press 2002) (^2) Magna Carta 1219, clause 39 (^3) Ward v James [1966] 1 QB 273 (^4) Suicide Act 1961 (^5) Afua Hirsch, 'Kay Gilderdale case: A clear verdict on the law's confusion on assisted suicide' [2010] The Guardian
was no argument that the defendant had committed all the components for the offense.^13 Lord Devlin argued that trial by jury is the “lamp that shows that freedom lives”.^14 A jury will practice good judgment as opposed to thoughtlessly adhere to the law. Jurors are well- prepared than judges or magistrates to evaluate issues, for example, the validity of witnesses and whether the defendant in a robbery preliminary is deceptive. The right to a fair trial is fundamental to the rule of law and democracy. Regarding article 6 of the ECHR^15 , the jury system advocates a less bias approach as the member of the jury consists of 12 people, both men and women. Moreover, as most jurors serve once, their view to the case they assist may be said to be relatively fresh with an open mind, unlike judges who are vulnerable to the argument that they can become case hardened that is that they can become cynical, having heard similar arguments in cases perhaps over many years. There are critics to the use of the jury trial. Jury trial are more costly than judge-led trials. It has been evaluated that an uncontested case in the Crown Court costs multiple times more than one in the magistrates ‘court, while a challenged Crown Court case costs around multiple times more. 16 Jury trials are a lot lengthier than trial by magistrates. The time factor prompts different flaws: defendants may go through months on remand anticipating a Crown Court preliminary. There is some worry about the possibility of racist jurors in criminal trials. In Sander^17 , owing to some racist remarks and jokes made by a juror , the European Court of Justice held that the judge should have discharged the jury as the appellant had not received a fair trial and Art. 6(1)^18 had been breached. There is a concern over the competence of a jury to hear complex cases which principally centres on their ability to comprehend proof in (^13) Steve Wilson, English Legal System (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2016) (^14) Baron Devlin & Patrick Devlin, Trial by jury (1956) (^15) European Convention on Human Rights (^16) Steve Wilson, English Legal System (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2016) (^17) Sander v The United Kingdom [2001] 31 EHRR 44 (^18) European Convention on Human Rights, Article 6
serious fraud trials. The acquittal of Ian and Kevin Maxwell after a lengthy serious fraud trial highlighted several the reasons for this concern^19. It was felt by some that the jury had been so confounded by the proof that they felt bound to give the benefit of the doubt. In criminal trials, the jury has often to see very graphic and potentially distressing evidence. It is argued that jury trials can cause distress to jury members. In R v Wagner & Bunting^20 , the evidence was so gruesome that three of the originally jury dropped out, while the remaining had to receive counselling afterwards. Jury trial in England and Wales were suspended in light of COVID-19. This was done as social distancing measures were hard to execute in courts. Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC introduced recommendations of how jury trials may proceed. Operating either-way cases without juries and courts operating on longer working hours and at weekends were envisaged. This will help boost the capacity of courts and tribunals by decreasing postponements and conveying speedier justice for victims. Nonetheless these suggestions were criticized as prior to the pandemic, the problem of backlog of cases still existed and putting aside the jury trial was never considered to be a solution. It has been proposed that the number of jury members be reduced and using non-court buildings for the hearing of cases.^21 The measure of reducing number of jurors was adopted during WW2 and thus being highly considered. With these measures being considered, Jeremy Dein QC believe that trial by jury has an edge over judge- only trial regarding status.^22 The clogging up of the system must not be tended to by the proposal of judge-just preliminaries. Jury trial is the backbone. It must not turn into victim of this pandemic. Adopting a judge-led trial in in crown courts without a jury removes the defendant’s right to elect to plead guilty in the magistrates court and thereby reduce their (^19) Vickneshwaren Krishnan, English Legal System (2nd edn, Old Bailey Press 2002) (^20) R v Wagner & Bunting [2004] SASC 235 (^21) John Hyde, 'Legislation to abolish some jury trials could be passed within weeks' [2020] 5(2) Law Gazette (^22) Letters, 'Trial by jury must survive coronavirus unscathed ' [2020] The Guardian
Bibliography
Books
Devlin B & Devlin P, Trial by jury (1956) Elliot C, English Legal System (8th edn, Pearson Education Limited 2017) Krishnan V, English Legal System (2nd edn, Old Bailey Press 2002) Sanders A and Young R, Criminal Justice (3rd Ed, Oxford University Press 2007) Wilson S, English Legal System (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2016) Cases R v Mason [1981] QB 881 R v Pointing [1985] Crim LR 318 R v Wagner & Bunting [2004] SASC 235 Sander v The United Kingdom [2001] 31 EHRR 44 Ward v James [1966] 1 QB 273 Law Commission Report Law Reform Commission,’ Criminal Courts Review ‘(2001) Online Journals Afua Hirsch, 'Kay Gilderdale case: A clear verdict on the law's confusion on assisted suicide' (25 May 2010), <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/25/kay-gilderdale-case-expert- view>, last accessed on 6 August 2020 John Hyde, 'Legislation to abolish some jury trials could be passed within weeks' (23 June 2020)<https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legislation-to-abolish-some-jury-trials-could-be- passed-within-weeks/5104739.article >, last accessed on 1 August 2020
- Magna Carta 1219, clause
- Official Secrets Act
- Suicide Act
