Jury Selection In Criminal Trials

"This monograph challenges the present doctrinal and policy positions that are in place in Canada regarding who may serve on a jury and how the petit jury is assembled in the Superior Courts across the land. The presumption that Canadians with criminal antecedents are unsuitable for jury duty is challenged both on the backdrop of history as well as against the present-day reality that one-in-ten of the citizenry is possessed of a criminal record. Additionally, once prospective jurors are summoned to court, the selection methods and "challenge" mechanisms are exposed as functionally ineffective and open to unsettling forms of abuse."--

Jury Selection in Criminal Cases provides an authoritative, insiders perspective on best practices and strategies for selecting and deselecting prospective jurors in a criminal case.

This practical guide for practitioners and the judiciary provides readers with guidance on all aspects of jury selection, from the initial decision to select trial by jury to challenges for cause and peremptory challenges.