The Jury System
Introduction
By Oscola,Lawteacher,May,2018
The concept of the jury system was probably imported into Britain after the Norman Conquest, though its early functions were quite different from those today. Early jurors in England acted as witnesses providing sources of information on local affairs. But they gradually came to be used as adjudicators in both civil and criminal disputes. Under Henry II, the jury began to take on an important function, moving from reporting on events they knew about, to deliberating on evidence produced by the parties involved in a dispute. Gradually it became accepted that a juror should know as little as possible about the facts of the case before the trial, and which is the position today.
The jury is considered as fundamental part of the English legal system, albeit only a minority of the cases is tried by the jury in these days. In a sense it plays a vital role in ensuring that the criminal justice system works for the benefit of the public rather than for the benefit of unjust leaders. It promotes not only a healthy criminal justice system but also a healthy society, where political leaders can not abuse criminal justice system to silence their opponents.
It has attained such an importance that Lord Devlin wrote in 1956:
“Trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than a wheel of the constitution; it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives.”
Jury plays a vital role in the criminal justice system in England and Wales and many other countries in the world. But the constitutional position of the English jury is vulnerable because of the unwritten constitution. In England, because of unwritten constitution, the right to trial by jury is not contained in the constitution. Generally, it is governed by ordinary Act of the parliamentary, which can be amended by the Parliament any time. So the government of the day could alter or even abolish the right to jury trial. However, due to the political barriers, the government is very cautious in doing this. Juries Act 1974 is the main statute governing the present day jury. Currently, the role of the English jury is almost entirely limited to the more serious criminal cases, but juries occasionally sit in civil trials as well.
The function of the jury
The function of the jury is to weigh up the evidence and to decide what the true facts of the case are or what actually happened. The judge gives the direction to the jury on the relevant law, which the jury has to apply to the facts of the case in order to reach a verdict. If it is a criminal case and the jury has given a verdict of guilty, then the judge will decide on appropriate sentence. In civil cases, juries function is to decide on how much money should be awarded in damages.
The jury in criminal cases
Although juries are very important in the criminal justice system, they actually deal only in a minority of the cases. Criminal offences are classified into three categories. 'Summary' offences are the minor offences and less serious and are triable only in the magistrate#39;s courts. For example minor traffic offences. The most serious kind of offences is 'indictable only' which must be tried in the Crown Court. Between these extremes kinds there is another kind of offences called as 'triable either way.' Such cases, as it is clear from the name, can be tried either in the magistrate#39;s courts if the magistrates are willing to here the case and the defendant consents or in the Crown Court. In these cases, the defendant has the right to insist on being tried in the Crown Court, so either the magistrates or the defendant can opt for trial in the Crown Court. Jury can try a case in the Crown Court and if the defendant pleads not guilty, and the trial proceeds further, he or she will be tried before a jury. The majority of the criminal cases are summary only because they are least serious and commonly committed, and as a result 95% of the cases are heard in the magistrates courts, where the juries have no role (this also includes those cases in which accused pleads guilty in either way offences). Out of the remaining 5% of the cases heard in the Crown Court, in majority of the cases either defendant pleads guilty, so there is no need of a jury or the judge directs the jury that law demands that they acquit the defendant. As a result the juries actually decide only around 1% of criminal cases. But on the other hand this 1% amounts to 30,000 trials and these are the most serious ones come before the court.
It is very difficult to answer that why defendants opt for Crown Court trial instead of a magistrate court, but research shows that there is a perception that there are more chances of acquittal before a jury than before a magistrate. This perception is born out by statistical evidence showing acquittal rates of approximately 40% in jury trials as compared with 25% in magistrate#39;s courts.
Apart from its historical role in the English legal system, jury trial is under attack in recent years. Governments have attempted to reduce the use of juries in criminal cases in order to save money. The Criminal Law Act 1977 removed the right to jury trial in a number of offences by making most driving offences and relatively minor criminal damage cases summary only. Since 1977, more and more cases have been removed from the jury trail by making them summary only. Criminal Justice Act has increased the sentencing power of the magistrate from 6 months to 12 months in a single offence and this could be increased further to 18 months by delegated legislation. The purpose behind this is that more cases will be tried in the magistrate#39;s courts rather than being referred up to Crown Court to be tried an expensive jury. Another step to reduce the number of jury trials is that the Criminal Justice Act 2003 also allows trial by judge alone in the crown court in two situatio
全文共24632字，剩余内容已隐藏，支付完成后下载完整资料
The Jury System
Introduction
By Oscola,Lawteacher,May,2018
The concept of the jury system was probably imported into Britain after the Norman Conquest, though its early functions were quite different from those today. Early jurors in England acted as witnesses providing sources of information on local affairs. But they gradually came to be used as adjudicators in both civil and criminal disputes. Under Henry II, the jury began to take on an important function, moving from reporting on events they knew about, to deliberating on evidence produced by the parties involved in a dispute. Gradually it became accepted that a juror should know as little as possible about the facts of the case before the trial, and which is the position today.
尽管它的早期功能与今天的功能截然不同，但陪审团制度的概念很可能是在诺曼征服（海斯廷斯战役）被引入英国。 在英国，早期的陪审员担任目击证人，提供有关当地事务的信息来源。 但他们逐渐被用作民事和刑事纠纷的裁决者。 在亨利二世时期，陪审团开始承担一项重要职能，从阐述他们所知的事实转向审议争议各方提供的证据。逐渐公认的是，陪审员应该尽可能少地了解审判前的案件事实，这也是今天（陪审员）的立场。
The jury is considered as fundamental part of the English legal system, albeit only a minority of the cases is tried by the jury in these days. In a sense it plays a vital role in ensuring that the criminal justice system works for the benefit of the public rather than for the benefit of unjust leaders. It promotes not only a healthy criminal justice system but also a healthy society, where political leaders can not abuse criminal justice system to silence their opponents.
陪审团被认为是英国法律体系的基本组成部分，尽管目前只有少数案件由陪审团审理。 从某种意义上说，它在确保刑事司法系统为公众而不是不公正领导人谋利方面发挥着至关重要的作用。 它不仅推动刑事司法体系健康，而且推动社会健康，政治领导人不能滥用刑事司法系统来遏制对手。
It has attained such an importance that Lord Devlin wrote in 1956:
“Trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than a wheel of the constitution; it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives.”
Jury plays a vital role in the criminal justice system in England and Wales and many other countries in the world. But the constitutional position of the English jury is vulnerable because of the unwritten constitution. In England, because of unwritten constitution, the right to trial by jury is not contained in the constitution. Generally, it is governed by ordinary Act of the parliamentary, which can be amended by the Parliament any time. So the government of the day could alter or even abolish the right to jury trial. However, due to the political barriers, the government is very cautious in doing this. Juries Act 1974 is the main statute governing the present day jury. Currently, the role of the English jury is almost entirely limited to the more serious criminal cases, but juries occasionally sit in civil trials as well.
陪审制度所达到的程度如此之重要，以至于Devlin爵士曾在1956年写道：
“陪审制度不仅仅是正义的工具也不仅仅是宪法的车轮，而是象征着自由存在的明灯。”
陪审团在英格兰和威尔士以及世界其他许多国家的刑事司法体系中发挥着至关重要的作用。但由于不成文的宪法，英国陪审团的宪法地位很脆弱。在英国，由于宪法不成文，宪法中没有包含陪审团审判的权利。陪审团权利一般是由议会的普通法案来规定的，任何时候都可以由议会修改。所以当时的政府可以改变甚至取消陪审团审判的权利。但是，由于政治障碍，政府在这方面非常谨慎。 “1974年陪审团法令”是管理现今陪审团的主要法令。目前，英国陪审团的作用几乎完全局限于更严重的刑事案件，但陪审团偶尔也会参加民事审判。
The function of the jury
The function of the jury is to weigh up the evidence and to decide what the true facts of the case are or what actually happened. The judge gives the direction to the jury on the relevant law, which the jury has to apply to the facts of the case in order to reach a verdict. If it is a criminal case and the jury has given a verdict of guilty, then the judge will decide on appropriate sentence. In civil cases, juries function is to decide on how much money should be awarded in damages.
陪审团的职能
陪审团的职能是衡量证据并确定案件的事实真相或实际发生了什么。法官根据相关法律向陪审团发出指示，陪审团必须适用于案件事实以作出裁决。如果是刑事案件并且陪审团已经判决有罪，那么法官将决定适当的判决。在民事案件中，陪审团的职能是决定应赔偿损失的数额。
The jury in criminal cases
Although juries are very important in the criminal justice system, they actually deal only in a minority of the cases. Criminal offences are classified into three categories. 'Summary' offences are the minor offences and less serious and are triable only in the magistrate#39;s courts. For example minor traffic offences. The most serious kind of offences is 'indictable only' which must be tried in the Crown Court. Between these extremes kinds there is another kind of offences called as 'triable either way.' Such cases, as it is clear from the name, can be tried either in the magistrate#39;s courts if the magistrates are willing to here the case and the defendant consents or in the Crown Court. In these cases, the defendant has the right to insist on being tried in the Crown Court, so either the magistrates or the defendant can opt for trial in the Crown Court. Jury can try a case in the Crown Court and if the defendant pleads not guilty, and the trial proceeds further, he or she will be tried before a jury. The majority of the criminal cases are summary only because they are least serious and commonly committed, and as a result 95% of the cases are heard in the magistrates courts, where the juries have no role (this also includes those cases in which accused pleads guilty in either way offences). Out of the remaining 5% of the cases heard in the Crown Court, in majority of the cases either defendant pleads guilty, so there is no need of a jury or the judge directs the jury that law demands that they acquit the defendant. As a result the juries actually decide only around 1% of criminal cases. But on the other hand this 1% amounts to 30,000 trials and these are the most serious ones come before the court.
刑事案件中的陪审团
尽管陪审团在刑事司法系统中非常重要，但他们实际上只处理少数案件。刑事犯罪分为三类。 “简易程序罪行”罪行是轻微的罪行，不那么严重，只有在治安法院才可以审理。例如轻微交通违法行为。最严重的罪行是“仅公诉”，必须在刑事法院审判。在这两种极端情况之间，还有另一种称为“可以任意方式”的犯罪。这类案件，从它的名字可以清楚的得知，如果法官愿意参与案件且被告同意的话，治安法院和刑事法院两者均可以审理。在这些案件中，被告有权坚持在刑事法院受审，所以裁判司或被告都可以选择在刑事法院受审。陪审团可以在刑事法院审理案件，如果被告不认罪，而且审判进一步进行，他或她将由陪审团来审判。大多数刑事案件走简易程序是因为他们情节不严重和犯人通常认罪，所以有95％的案件在治安法院审理，而陪审团在这类案件里没有任何作用（（这也包括被告以任何方式认罪的案件））。在刑事法院听证的剩余5％的案件中，大多数案件都是被告承认有罪，因此不需要陪审团或由法官提示陪审团要求他们无罪释放被告的法律。因此，陪审团实际上只能审判大约1％的刑事案件。但另一方面，这1％的审判达到了三万宗，而且都是最严重的审判。lt;
全文共31356字，剩余内容已隐藏，支付完成后下载完整资料
资料编号：[16895]，资料为PDF文档或Word文档，PDF文档可免费转换为Word
以上是毕业论文外文翻译，课题毕业论文、任务书、文献综述、开题报告、程序设计、图纸设计等资料可联系客服协助查找。
