Why it's a Duty That Must be Done?
In common law countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA, adults are required, if called, to participate in the administration of justice by serving on juries. This can be a regular duty and in Australia some people serve more than once during their adult life.
“Jury duty can be an imposition, taking people away from other concerns such as work and family for long periods, but it's a duty that needs to be done.”
My father, who hated serving, was called many times. My mother never was, perhaps because she had a number of children.
My spouse has been called three times, excused twice. On the third occasion he was empanelled, taken into court and put into the jury box but the Judge did not come onto the Bench. He and the other jurors waited.
Eventually and after an anxious 40 minutes in the jury box while the spouse was intimidated by the heavy Victorian wood panelling, the wigged Judge, done up in his red gown trimmed with ermine, came onto the Bench.
He informed the jury, with a grin of amusement, that the accused, who been allowed to use the toilet facilities, had absconded through the bathroom window. The jury were thanked for their attendance and informed that obviously the trial would not proceed that day. They were free to go, unlike the prisoner, who was at that moment being pursued by Police and probably the Sheriff, through Sydney's Hyde Park.
I've never had any fun at court like that. Other fun but never as a juror.
A Lawyer's Fascination With the Working of Juries
Juries fascinate me because they can determine the outcome of a trial, whether someone has to pay a lot in damages or if someone is going to do time at Her Majesty's pleasure so I want to know how they work from the inside. Being a lawyer I am not eligible to serve. I was called once before I was admitted but the trial didn't go ahead and I was excused.
I was never called again so I've never been able to find out how a jury goes about its task except by talking to people who have served. It seems to be a process people take very seriously once they're in the room. Another notable thing about juries is how often they seem to get it right. Common sense and responsibility are still, it seems, at work.
Serving on a jury can be considered an onerous duty because trials are on working days and jurors have to take time off from work and accept a low rate of payment by the State for the time spent at court. When a trial is scheduled to take three or four weeks or worse, months (sometimes longer) livelihoods can be lost because businesses are left unattended or employers become impatient.
Perhaps that's why when a jury is to be empanelled 300 people or so are called in to be considered for selection. Of that number 12 will be selected in each case.
What a Jury Decides; What the Bench Decides
In any trial where a jury sits the jury decides the issues of fact only; the Bench in whatever guise, decides issues of law. This clear distinction leaves to the Bench decisions as to whether or not, on the law there is a case, or facts, for the jury to even consider. In criminal trials this can mean a case is dismissed before the jury have to consider anything and the accused walks free.
Juries are now rare in civil cases. Fraud and defamation trials are two of the few remaining instances where a party in a civil case can opt to trial by jury. In defamation it's an interesting exercise, four people sitting and hearing argument as to whether words, pictures or both be it libel (written) or slander (oral) have defamed the plaintiff. Perhaps they sit there and think "how would I feel if that were said or written about me?"
Fraud trials can be civil or criminal. In civil the jury sits and hears endless evidence about truckloads of documents and the barristers or trial lawyers drone on and on about what fraud means. Osborn's Legal Dictionary defines it as the obtaining of a material advantage by unfair or wrongful means; it involves obliquity. For the definition of obliquity we turn to Chambers' English dictionary and find "obliquity, state of being oblique; a slanting direction; crookedness of outlook, thinking or conduct, or an instance of it". So defauding someone means being very dishonest (a crook) and taking something from someone else.
