World Jury Systems

This unique volume on modern jury systems presents in-depth coverage of juries in Australia, England, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Scotland and the United States. Coverage involves civil as well as criminal juries. The book has enormous value for students of comparative law and for practitioners and policy makers who are concerned about issues such as free press versus fair trial', pretrial prejudice, racial or ethnic bias, and complex evidence.

This volume examines diverse jury systems in nations around the world. These systems are marked by unique features having critical implications for jury selection, composition, functioning, processes, and ultimately, trial outcomes. These unique features are examined by applying relevant social psychological research, models and concepts to the central issues and characteristics of jury systems in those nations using a wide variety of jury procedures. Traditionally, research that has been conducted on juries has almost exclusively targeted the North-American jury. Psychologically-based research on European, Asian and Australian juries has been almost non-existent in the past decade or more. Yet, the incidence of jury trials outside of North America has been steadily increasing as more nations (e.g., Japan, Spain, Russia, and Poland) adopt, revise, or expand their use of juries in their legal system. Accordingly, research has been appearing in the scientific literature on new developments in world juries (particularly in Spain, Japan, and Australia). This volume fulfils the dual purpose of understanding the diverse practices in world juries in light of existing social psychological knowledge and applied research on juries in each nation, and outlining new research in the context of the issues raised by jury practices beyond those of North America.

This "discussion of the jury system traces its early beginnings and discusses juries around the world, but con- centrates on the system in America. It covers selection of jurors ... different kinds of verdict, the roles of judge and lawyers at a trial, variations in state and federal jury requirements and practices, the pros and cons of retaining the system today."

This magisterial book explores fascinating cases from American history to show how juries remain the heart of our system of criminal justice - and an essential element of our democracy. No other institution of government rivals the jury in placing power so directly in the hands of citizens. Jeffrey Abramson draws upon his own background as both a lawyer and a political theorist to capture the full democratic drama that is the jury. We, the Jury is a rare work of scholarship that brings the history of the jury alive and shows the origins of many of today's dilemmas surrounding juries and justice.

Offers a comprehensive and comparative picture of how countries around the globe use ordinary citizens to decide criminal cases.

Reason Curve, Jury Competence, and the English Criminal Justice System, a cross-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary book, seeks to stimulate discussion and extend the debate in the area of criminal trials in light of the absence of an articulated explanation for a verdict. The book traces the history and development of the jury, from the Carolingian kings, its advancement in the English Courts following papal intervention, the impact of the Magna Carta, to its general use, current curtailment in England and Wales, and re-emergence in Continental Europe. Central to the book's submission is the dictum that the jurors' franchise to deliver a cryptic verdict is 'a matter between them and their conscience.' In light of human and civil rights movements, the book advances arguments that a cryptic verdict may offend the principle of fair trials in criminal justice. This is amplified by the presence of a developing and significant body of law that demands that decisions by public officers be accompanied by articulated pronouncements regarding the basis for their decision. While the book does not contend with the sanctity of jury deliberations and recognizes the difficulties associated with reason articulation by lay assessors, it argues that the jury continuum provides a fertile ground not only for articulating a verdict in light of human experiences, but also for generating the reason curve, which provides legitimacy for that verdict. Furthermore, the reason curve argues that it is entirely possible for the jury to articulate its reasons provided the Criminal Justice System makes provisions not just to expect an explained verdict from the jury, but also provides it with the necessary facilities needed for compliance. Exploring research and sources in the fields of law and psychology in Europe, the USA, and other jurisdictions around the world, this book is written for an international audience as a catalyst for the student of legal jurisprudence who has interests in the concepts of reason, accountability, transparency, and human rights in the criminal justice system. It is also written for the cognitive and behavioral psychologist with an interest in lay decision-making in criminal trials. In the large legal jurisdictions of the USA and Canada, the right to a jury trial is enshrined in state articles. As such, there is less tinkering with the institution. In England and Wales where Parliament is supreme and the constitution is unwritten, no such right exists. Consequently, the government enjoys tremendous leeway in tinkering with the 'right to jury trial.' Whether or not the institution can evolve to deliver a 21st Century approach is a matter for full debate, research, and the march of time.

Lay participation in the criminal justice process in the form of a jury is a celebrated phenomenon throughout the common law jurisdictions. While not claiming credit for its origin, England, as the latent cradle of the modern jury, disseminated this mode

Confronting readers with intellectual and moral dilemmas faced by real jurors, The Jury Crisis explores the near collapse of jury trials in America, examines alternative paths to justice and proposes how to restore trial by jury as the trusted foundation of American democracy.