What kind developed the use of courts and juries

This can be a legal jury, a group of people who swear to determine the facts of a court case. A jury can also determine winners in competitions, such as art.

Many countries use juries as part of their legal system. In most countries that use juries, they are triers of fact, meaning juries determine the facts present in the case. Judges, on the other hand, are triers of law, meaning they determine the legal issues in the case. Legal Juries in the U. In the United States, a jury begins with a call for jury duty.

To be eligible for jury duty, one must be a legal citizen of the U. Most citizens are called for jury duty at least once in their lives. Jury duty is not optional. Jury selection eliminate s most potential jurors. Part of the reason is that most legal dispute s are settled without trials.

Jurors selected for trials are questioned by attorney s and approved or rejected. Potential jurors who have a conflict of interest in a case are not allowed to be on that cases jury. A conflict of interest is when a person has knowledge of the case, such as knowing one of the people involved, that may unfairly influence their fact-finding abilities.

In states that have the death penalty , such as Texas and South Dakota, jurors in death-penalty cases must be death-qualified. A death-qualified jury is not oppose d to the death penalty.

There are two major types of legal juries in the U. A grand jury is made up of between 12 and 23 people who decide if there is enough evidence to proceed with a full trial.

Grand juries do not decide guilt or innocence, just if there should be a trial at all. A grand jury is used in about half of the states in the U. A trial jury, also known as a petit jury , is the most familiar type of jury to most Americans. The U. Some other countries use juries less regularly. Most countries do not use juries at all. The number of jurors used in jury trials varies. In the U. In Brazil, its seven. In Norway, its Juries can decide the facts in criminal and civil cases.

Criminal case s are those where the government the state , county , or nation is prosecuting, or carrying out the legal action. Defendant s in criminal cases are accused of committing crimes not allowed by the government, such as murder or robbery.

Civil case s are those where one individual or organization is prosecuting another. Examples of civil cases a jury might hear are property and contract disputes. Civil cases usually involve money, while criminal cases can involve the possibility of imprison ment. After hearing evidence from the prosecution and the defense, juries decide the facts. They are sometimes given specific rules, called jury instructions , from the judge in the trial.

Jurors take notes during the trial, listen to jury instructions, then discuss the case with each other. These discussions are called jury deliberation s. Jury deliberations are led by the leader of the jury, called a jury foreman.

Juries return their verdict , or decision, to the judge. In some jurisdictions, the verdict must be unanimous , meaning all jurors must agree. In other jurisdictions, the verdict must simply reflect the majority. A jury that is unable to reach a verdict is called a hung jury.

At this point, the judge declares a mistrial. The case may or may not be retried. If a jury believes a law is unjust or unfair, it can reject that law. This controversial practice is called jury nullification. This happens rarely, and usually involves the jury allowing the accused person to be excused of the crime despite evidence of guilt. Juries that practice jury nullification believe rejecting the unfair law is more important than punishing the person who broke the unfair law.

Judges do not support jury nullification. Jurors can sometimes be expel led from juries for considering the law itself, instead of the facts of the specific case. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, a similar situation exists. Its called jury equity and is tolerate d a little more than it is in the U. Legal Juries There are three major types of legal systems that use juries: common law , civil law , and religious law. There is wide variation within each type of legal system. Canada also uses a common law system, and uses juries for the most serious types of criminal trials, such as murder.

India uses a common law system, but outlawed the use of juries in all trials in Most countries use civil law, in which legal decisions are made based on a collected series of rules, not judges or court cases. Russia has a civil law system that rarely uses juries for either criminal or civil trials. Indonesia has a civil law system that never uses juries.

Few countries use religious law as a national legal system. It is most common in the Middle East , where countries look to the holy book of Islam , the Quran , for guidance. This law, called Shariah and fiqh , allows for juries. Iran uses juries for some criminal cases.

Other Types of Juries Less formal juries exist all over the world. These juries are often used for judging good s and services. Local groups can select juries to judge the quality of local services, such as auto repair or hairdressing.

They may keep a copy of the indictment, the exhibits and their notes. Jurors may send out notes asking for the law to be further explained or for the judge to remind them of the details of the evidence.

In reaching its verdict in a criminal trial , the jury must be satisfied that the person is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Beyond reasonable doubt means that if there are two reasons given in the case and both are possible explanations for what happened, taken together with the evidence presented, the jury should give the person the benefit of the doubt and decide on a verdict of not guilty.

If the case is a civil one, the jury must be satisfied with its verdict on the balance of probabilities. It is not necessary that a jury be unanimous in its verdict. In a criminal case, a verdict need not be unanimous where there are not fewer than 11 jurors if 10 of them agree on a verdict after considering the case for a reasonable time not less than two hours.

In a civil trial, a verdict may be reached by a majority of 9 of the 12 members. When the jury has reached its decision, it will return to the court and the verdict will be read out by the foreman or forewoman.

The jury has no role in sentencing. This decision is left up to the judge following submissions made by both sides. Under current public health restrictions , court business has been reduced. You can access the latest announcements on court sittings on the Courts Service website.

If you have a question about this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 07 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. You can also contact your local Citizens Information Centre or Request a call back from an information officer. Information The jury fulfils a very important function in the legal system. The verdict At the conclusion of the trial, the jurors are given an issue paper, which states the issues that the jury must consider in reaching its verdict.

Rules Jurors must: Decide the facts of the case only. Remain impartial and independent. Remain uninfluenced by any person. It is an offence for any person who is not a member of the jury to attempt to influence a juror in any way. Keep statements made in the jury room confidential. Jurors should not discuss the case with any person other than members of the jury. Page edited: 10 May