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In This Essay I Will Be Discussing Whether The Jury System

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In this essay I will be discussing whether the Jury system is an appropriate way in deciding the guilt of offenders, in addition I will be addressing the advantages and disadvantages of the jury system. “The Jury system emerged from the magna carta which provided trial by peers” yet the system has developed further and new regulations, as well as training methods have been put in to ensure the system is functioning in a more reliable manner. Juries are selected at random, yet they have to be “between the ages of 18-70, they must have lived in the UK for at least 5 years and the mentally disordered people are excluded”. The use of Juries in deciding guilt is controversial as some argue jury trials allow members of the public to become more …show more content…

There are twelve jurors in the court room who make the decision rather than one judge. “It may be that one or two on the jury don 't believe the witness or the defendant but that all 12 will be wrong is unlikely”, this illustrates that a trial by the jury would be more fair as it would be highly unlikely that all jurors would decide wrong, whereas if a judge was only to decide guilt then there would be a 50% chance of deciding incorrectly. The use of juries is a more reliable way in deciding the guilt of offenders as even though jurors may not have legal profession “jurors tend to rely on the judge’s instructions to guide them in their deliberation”, therefore juries are guided throughout the trial in order to help them come to a decision, even if jurors were unable to follow instructions or understand certain regulations then it would not be the juries fault but the judge’s, as the judge may not be able to explain precisely in a way which all jurors may understand.
The jury are most useful in complicated cases as they usually “stick to the evidence and are not swayed by irrelevant considerations”. This demonstrates that their judgements are fair and just, as they decide guilt based on the evidence portrayed to them, and are not influenced by the characteristics of an offender such as their gender, age and looks. In addition, complicated cases may take longer therefore the use of juries in deciding

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