Review Activities – the Role of Juries, Including verdicts

1. What is a jury?
In some criminal trials a jury is an impartial body may be used to determine the verdict of the defendant as
they represent a cross-section of society and therefore provides a range of perceptions that a judge cannot.

2. Describe how the use of jury is basic entitlement for a fair trial for an indicatable offence?
Section 80 of the Australian Constitution allows for a trial by jury for indictable offence.

3. Who can be exempted from jury trials and why?

o Clergy and vowed members of any religious order
o Person practicing as dentists, pharmacists, media practitioners
o Persons who are at least 70 years old
o Pregnant women

4. Outline 5 issues with jury trial

o The availability of information
o Trial by media
o Complexity of evidence and the use of expert witnesses
o Concentration
o Jury conducting research of facts.

Trial by Jury

1. What do you think was meant by the following statement? ‘It is fundamental to trial by jury
that the law is for the judge and the facts are for the jury’
The role of judge is impartial in deterring questions of law, procedure and admissibility of evidence
to uphold procedural fairness, while the facts are for jury to provide a verdict that represents the
morals and ethics of the community.
2. Explain the difference approaches to trial by jury taken in civil and criminal law
In criminal trials, the jury's role is to determine guilt or otherwise. In civil trials, the jury's role is
to decide fault and damages.
3. Investigate the process by which jurors are chosen, and consider whether there are more
effective methods of selection
Jurors are compiled randomly from a panel of 12 citizens.
4. Compare and contrast the original and current role of the jury
The current role of the jury to determine the verdict of the defendant as they represent a cross-section
of society and therefore provides a range of perceptions that a judge cannot.
5. Was the English jury system implemented in Australia at the time of settlement? Explain why
or why not
The form of the jury used on modern Australia has been traced to the time of Henry II who rule the
British empire from 1154-1189
6. Examine the division of responsibility between judges and jurors in a criminal trial and
consider where you think it is possible in practice to maintain the division
In cases with a jury, the judge is responsible for insuring that the law is followed, and
the jury determines the facts. In cases without a jury, the judge also is the finder of fact.
A judge is an elected or appointed official who conducts court proceedings.
7. Does the Australian Consitution confer a broad right to trial by jury? Explain
Yes the Australian constitution confer a broad right to trial by jury