The Jury System Around the World

shuize

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In another thread the issue of juries came up with regard to self-defense.

I'm curious about where juries are used around the world.

I've heard that juries have fallen out of favor in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada and that most of the common law countries no longer use grand juries or civil juries. Is that accurate?

I'd be interested to learn about other variations on the jury system from around the world as well.
 
As far as I know, in Sweden juries are only used for deciding whether something falls under freedom of press. In all other cases the judge alone makes the decision, after hearing the prosecution and the defense.
 
karl said:
As far as I know, in Sweden juries are only used for deciding whether something falls under freedom of press. In all other cases the judge alone makes the decision, after hearing the prosecution and the defense.
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That's a terrifying prospect to an American. We rely on the chance that twelve people will, collectively, be less biased and insane than our biased and insane judges. It's all down to luck in plucking the slightly-less-mad from the jury pool.

And it's much cheapier to intimidate a jury than it is to bribe a judge. More fun, too.
 
a_unique_person said:
I have been on two juries here, for criminal cases. The grand jury is, AFAIK, not really used. It appears to be an American curiosity.
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Don't we use the High Court instead of a Grand Jury? I know nothing about the courts BTW.
 
TragicMonkey said:
That's a terrifying prospect to an American. We rely on the chance that twelve people will, collectively, be less biased and insane than our biased and insane judges. It's all down to luck in plucking the slightly-less-mad from the jury pool.
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On the other hand, juries are made of people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty.
 
epepke said:
On the other hand, juries are made of people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty.
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True. But stupidity can be handy if you play it right. If you're guilty and all the evidence is against you, you'd be lucky to have a jury composed of people who don't believe in logic, reason, and evidence.

And judges have seen it all before. With juries, this might be the first trial they've ever followed. Confused and frightened, they might need guidance from a smooth-talking lawyer to point them to the correct verdict...

I'd take my chances on fooling a jury of legal ignoramuses rather than try to manipulate an experienced judge.
 
It's good to see everyone has such a high opinion of our justice system.

Perhaps we should have one person who decides your guilt and punishment.
 
epepke said:
On the other hand, juries are made of people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty.
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I think their are two subjects being discussed here.

A Grand Jury is not really the same as a Jury. They decide different things. A Grand Jury decides if a (criminal) case has enough merit to bring to trial. A jury decides if a case has enough merit to convict.
 
merphie said:
It's good to see everyone has such a high opinion of our justice system.

Perhaps we should have one person who decides your guilt and punishment.
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Let's use "the honor system". That works so well in colleges.
 
merphie said:
I am not familar with "the honor system"
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Most colleges claim to have one. Basically, all the students read a little screed that says they won't cheat, lie, or plagiarize or whatever. Then if they get accused of it, they go before "the Honor Council" which is made up of student government nerds, and they all pretend to be lawyers and juries. It's a big waste of time, and doesn't seem to accomplish anything beyond providing the student government nerds with junk to put on their law school applications, as if they cared.

I think it's all based loosely on the honor code at the military academies, where they have all those rapes and cheating on tests.
 
Whats the alternative? Have judges decide your fate???

Great, youll probably end up in front of some rich well connected eliteist white guy whos probably been jaded from years of criminal cases.

Ill take my chanes with 12 peeps from off the street. At least you have a hand in picking them.
 
Tmy said:
Whats the alternative? Have judges decide your fate???

Great, youll probably end up in front of some rich well connected eliteist white guy whos probably been jaded from years of criminal cases.

Ill take my chanes with 12 peeps from off the street. At least you have a hand in picking them.
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And they're less likely to live in gated communities with security guards, and have much more flammable houses, if you catch my drift, wink wink. "Gee, I sure hope my friends don't get too upset if I get a guilty verdict. It might bring back their pyromania and antisocial disorders."
 
Saying that juries are made up of people too dumb to avoid jury duty is about the same as saying voters are people too dumb to realize that one vote won't make a difference.
 
shuize said:
I've heard that juries have fallen out of favor in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada and that most of the common law countries no longer use grand juries or civil juries. Is that accurate?
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Juries have fallen out of favour in the UK with David Blunkett, not everyone.

I recommend this book. It's a personal account of jury service in the UK, and how people rise to the occasion.

Not having lawyers able to pick and choose the jury makes a big difference to their perception in society.
 
And it's much cheapier to intimidate a jury than it is to bribe a judge
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No it's not. And that's why the United States is the only real democracy. Because the people are allowed to decide on each other's guilt/innocence, not the government. They call themselves democratic, but they control the people thru the state.
 
jay gw said:
No it's not. And that's why the United States is the only real democracy. Because the people are allowed to decide on each other's guilt/innocence, not the government. They call themselves democratic, but they control the people thru the state.
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What? Other countries have juries as well, and ones which cannot be selected by the lawyers for either side.
 
jay gw said:
No it's not. And that's why the United States is the only real democracy. Because the people are allowed to decide on each other's guilt/innocence, not the government. They call themselves democratic, but they control the people thru the state.
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Um, so it's more expensive to set a few fires and break a few arms than it is to bribe a judge making six figures a year?


(eta: Did I really type "cheapier"? I did. Oh well, I like the sound of it. It stays!)
 
Matabiri said:
What? Other countries have juries as well, and ones which cannot be selected by the lawyers for either side.
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It's important to remove potential jurors who could be biased.
 
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