NCJ Number
101852
Date Published
1985
Length
249 pages
Annotation
As part of its study of corporate crime, the Law Reform Commission of Victoria (Australia) prepared this background paper on the present use of the jury in Victoria, arguments for and against its use, jury research, and the use of the jury in complicated commercial prosecutions.
Abstract
An overview of the jury's use in Victoria's criminal trials discusses juror summoning, jury empaneling, jury interaction with the rules of evidence and exclusionary rules, and jury instructions. Also reviewed are the rules governing the jury's role in the criminal trial. These include the distinction between matters of fact (for the jury) and matters of law (for the judge), rules covering special verdicts, matters included in the judge's summation, and the manner of that summation. Arguments for and against the jury's use in modern society focus on the need for a neutral party of a defendant's peers to render verdicts as well as the difficulties lay persons have in dealing with complex legal issues and complicated cases, particularly those involving corporate violations. The nature of complicated commercial prosecutions are examined, and options for the continued use of the jury in such cases are reviewed. The methodologies and findings of jury research are considered. The concluding chapter summarizes critical jury-related issues: jury prejudice, jury handling of expert evidence, complicated commercial cases, and the education of judges and jurors. For appendixes, see NCJ 101853. 300-item bibliography.