The Value of Our Jury System
| Author | W. Summerfield |
| Published date | 01 April 1932 |
| Date | 01 April 1932 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3200500208 |
The
Value
of
our
Jury
System
By W. SUMMERFIELD, B.C.L., LL.B.
Barrister-at-Law
WElive inan age whenfew,if any,established institutions
are immune from criticism designed to produce, or
actually resulting in, radical change.It is not surprising,
accordingly, that our
jury
system has not escaped contro-
versial discussion.
The
jury is one of themost venerableof all our judicial
institutions. Its antiquity is generally tracedback to thedays
of Alfred theGreat, whose burning of thecakesmayhave
been due to profound absorption in its manifold intricacies.
Certainly juries were employedbytheNorman Conqueror
in and about the preparation of theDomesday
Book-the
ancestor ofall ourtaxation inquisitors.
The
reaction of thehuman mind to an antique institution
is eitherone of reverenceorrevulsion.We either instinctively
love thevenerable andfeartolay desecratinghandsupon it,
or we areprejudiced againstit merely because of itsage.
Aware of these innatetendencies,itisourduty tomake every
effort topreserve a judicial balanceinassessing thevalidity
or otherwiseof theobjections nowadays raised tothejury
system.
In
point of fact beforeweproceedtoexamine thecharges
we must clearly ascertain whatitisthat is arraigned thus at
the barof publicopinion.
The'
jury system ' is acompre-
hensive term.There isthecivil jury andthe criminal jury.
We shall do wellto bear in mindthat they are notone and
indivisible, nor even twins; they are cousins.Justicedemands
that sentence shall not bepassed upon one forthesins of his
cousm.
THE
VALUE OF OUR JURY SYSTEM 239
Each of thesecousins,again, isa parent.
The
former
has sired thecountycourt jury, thecommon jury and the
special
jury-with
one or two youngsters who arerarely seen
or heard,
e.g,
theCityofLondonSpecial jury.
The
latter
has beenresponsible for theintroduction of coroners'juries,
grand juries andpetty juries(andjuriesof matrons).
If
an indictmentis to bepreferred against the jury
system, itdoes notfollow that all the counts in it willbe
equally applicable toeachofthetwocousins.Andif we are
to place inthedock theiroffspring as well, again we must
beware to keepourcharges against each separateanddistinct.
Nevertheless, inopening thecase fortheprosecutionin
the cause
Rex
(Uponthe information
of
the Twentieth Century)
e.
The
Jury,
it is possibleand permissibleto offer some
general observations of anintroductory nature which shall be
applicable to alltheaccused.
Theyare, then,as we have alreadynoted,of ancientand
royal lineage.
Their pastrecord,nevertheless,reveals thatinthemain
they have espoused nottherightsoftheirkingly begetters,
but of their subjects.
The
jury anciently stood betweentheking, orthecentral
power in thestate, andthesubjects whoacknowledged his
sovereignty.
The
barons who wrested fromKingJohnat
Runnymede the rightto trial by
'peers'
were conferring,
through Magna Carta,rightsuponall theirfellow-subjects
of all ranks.This development is common,indeed,toall
recorded histories of constitutions,bothin theancient andin
the modern
world-the
aristocracy infighting foritsown
privileges against themonopolyofkingortyrant has won, at
thesame time,thebattlefordemocracy.So it was that if the
baronshadtheirownbaronial' peers 'totrytheiralleged
breaches of the
law-a
survival which persistsdown tothis
day in therightof a peer of therealm tobe triedfor treason
or felony intheHouseof
Lords-the'
common' people, too,
had
their'
peers'
(i.e. equals), whocouldbeassembled to see
thatthescales of justicewere notundulyorimproperly
weighted on theside of theprosecutingauthorityagainst one
of their fellows.
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