Jury Fairness: An Analysis of Jury Decision-Making Processes in the UK, Study notes of Criminal Justice

Download Jury Fairness: An Analysis of Jury Decision-Making Processes in the UK and more Study notes Criminal Justice in PDF only on Docsity! !‘Are$juries$fair?’! Cheryl!Thomas! Ministry!of!Justice!Research!Series!1/10! February!2010! ! ! $ $ $ $ THE$STUDY$ This!research!asks:!How!fair!is!the!jury!decisionDmaking!process?!! It!explores!a!number!of!aspects!of!jury!fairness!for!the!first!time!in!this!country,!and! asks!specifically:! • Do!allDWhite!juries!discriminate!against!BME!defendants?!! • Do!jurors!racially!stereotype!defendants?!! • Do!juries!at!certain!courts!rarely!convict?!! • Do!juries!rarely!convict!on!certain!offences?! • Do!jurors!understand!legal!directions?!! • Do!jurors!know!what!to!do!about!improper!conduct!in!the!jury!room?!! • Are!jurors!aware!of!media!coverage!of!their!cases?! • How!is!the!internet!affecting!jury!trials?! ! The!research!used!a!multiDmethod!approach!to!examine!these!issues:!! • Case!simulation!with!real!juries!at!Crown!Courts!(involving!797!jurors!on!68! juries);!! • LargeDscale!analysis!of!all!actual!jury!verdicts!in!2006–08!(over!68,000!verdicts);!! • PostDverdict!survey!of!jurors!(668!jurors!in!62!cases).! FINDINGS$ The!study!found!little!evidence!that!juries!are!not!fair.!However,!it! identifies!several!areas!where!the!criminal!justice!system!should!better! assist!jurors!in!performing!this!vital!role.!The!study!also!demonstrates! that!section!8!of!the!Contempt!of!Court!Act!1981!does!not!prevent! comprehensive!research!about!how!juries!reach!their!verdicts!and!that! research!from!other!jurisdictions!should!not!be!relied!upon!to!understand! juries!in!this!country.! ! Examples!of!specific!findings!are!detailed!below.! $ QUESTION:$Do!juries!reach!verdicts?$ $ FINDING:$Jurors!reach!verdicts!in!99.4%!of!cases.! ! $ QUESTION:!Do!allDWhite!juries!discriminate!against!BME! defendants?!! $ FINDING:!Where!juries!reached!a!verdict!they!were!not!more!likely! to!convict!a!BME!defendant!than!a!White!defendant.!This!applied!to! both!the!Black!defendant!and!the!Asian!defendant.!! 1%$ 64%$ 36%$ Jury$convictions$in$Crown$Courts$2006K08$ Hung! Guilty! Not!guilty! 2! 1! 1! 5! 4! 3! 4! 3! 6! 6! 6! Hung!Jury! Not!Guilty!Verdict! Guilty!Verdict! Jury$verdicts$in$case$simulation$by$defendant$ethnicity$