Your role as a juror

[Music] welcome to the court and thank you for giving up your valuable time to be here you're fulfilling a very important legal obligation as a juror that can be inconvenient and disruptive to your daily life so we're very grateful for your cooperation jurors are selected completely at random from the electoral register to ensure juru represents a cross-section of society anyone on the electoral register who's between 18 and 75 is liable for jury service and could be called at any time some people are disqualified from serving on a jury and these are listed in boxes a and b on the leaflet sent with your summons if you've ever been on probation sentenced to imprisonment or community service or if you're currently on bail it could be an offence for you to serve on a jury if you're unsure about your eligibility please speak to the jury officer in confidence before you were selected to sit on trial [Music] your role as a juror is an important one you need to carefully consider all the evidence presented to you during the trial and then together with your fellow jurors decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the offence they have been charged with each morning before the courts sit there's a roll call of jurors can you please answer your names michelle sharp if you fail to attend during your period the judge may fine you it's really important that you arrive at court each day on time if you face any delays traveling to the court or rl please contact your jury officer immediately always remember to bring your summons with you sometimes delays outside our control mean you might have to wait around for some time we realize this is frustrating and assure you we do everything possible to keep it to a minimum please remember that you must get permission from court staff to leave the jury area or the court building we hope you'll bear with us we do apologize and thank you for your patience most of you can expect to finish your jury service within 10 working days but some trials can last longer if you're selected to serve on a longer case you'll be given an estimate of how long is expected to last and if you can't commit to that length of time you'll have the chance to let the court know please don't be afraid to let staff know of any difficulties that you have because every stage of the selection is random some jurors may end up trying a number of cases and some may not be selected to sit on a trial at all if you have any problems reading writing or understanding english or if you have difficulty hearing or have any other disability which may affect your ability to serve as a juror please inform a jury officer at the earliest opportunity and before you are called to sit on a trial it is an offence for anyone to impersonate a juror and to serve on their behalf as a matter of routine you may be asked to show some form of identification at any time if you haven't been in a courtroom before it can be confusing so it helps to have some idea of who's who and where they sit the judge controls proceedings from the bench at the front of the courtroom a high court judge is called my lord or my lady a circuit judge is called your honor all judges wear robes and wigs in front of the judge sits the court clerk who wears a black gown and may also wear a wig the usher of the court will also wear a black gown facing the bench are the two legal teams representing the prosecution and the defense who are always closest to the jury each team has an advocate who will be wearing a black gown and usually a wig they will present and argue their case to you the defendant sits in the dock and will often be accompanied by a dock officer witnesses give evidence from the witness box or sometimes via video link or behind the screen finally there's an area in the courtroom for the press and the public gallery please remember that you are not allowed to smoke or take pictures inside a courtroom [Music] when a trial is ready to begin the jury officer will randomly select a panel of around 15 people to go into the courtroom if your name isn't called out please stay in the jury waiting area for the next trial to be called when in court the court clerk will select 12 names at random from the panel and call them out if your name is called confirm your identity by saying yes loudly and clearly and take a seat in the jury box yes to algo at this point the defense of prosecution lawyers may challenge the selection of a particular juror if the judge accepts a challenge the juror won't be required to serve on that particular case and they'll be asked to leave the jury box you may be challenged for many different reasons so don't take it personally if it happens to you [Music] if you're not challenged then you'll be asked to take the juror's oath this is usually done by taking a holy book of your choice and reading the oath from a card i swear by almighty god that i will faithfully try the defendant and give a true verb if you do not want to sway on a holy book you can ask to affirm i'd like to perform please i do solemnly sincerely and truly declare the words are very similar to the oath and carry equal meaning please let the usher know your preference before you enter the court so the appropriate card and holy book are readily available i swear by the gita that i will faithfully try after 12 jurors have been sworn those not chosen will return to the jury assembly area where they may be called upon to serve on another trial once the jury has been selected the court clerk will read out the charges made against the defendant and the trial will begin particulars of the offense are on the 25th of september 2014. if you realize you know anyone or have any other connection with the trial on which you're serving tell the usher immediately whether he's guilty all criminal trials follow a similar pattern the prosecution begin by outlining details of the offences then the witnesses are called sworn and questioned this is called evidence-in-chief when it is finished the defense have the opportunity to question each witness to find any weaknesses or contradictions in their evidence this is called cross-examination when all the prosecution witnesses have been questioned cross-examined and re-examined if necessary by the prosecution it's the turn of the defense the defense can present their case if they wish to do so the procedure is similar i have no further questions but this time the defense called their witnesses were cross-examined by the prosecution and if necessary re-examined by the defense the judge may intervene from time to time to keep the trial on course he may need to deal with a point of law or difficulty that has arisen you will be asked to leave the courtroom while this is dealt with when all the evidence has been given the prosecution and defense may give their closing speeches and we ask you when you retire after consideration to return verdicts of guilty they will talk directly to you as they refer to the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cases finally to help you decide your verdict the judge will tell you what the law requires and summarize the facts of the case if at any point you need further explanation or want to ask a question you can do so by passing a note to the judge ryan usher if you feel unwell need to use the toilet or distressed by the evidence please don't be afraid to tell someone again pass a note or simply raise your hand to get the usher's attention [Music] it's vital that your opinion is based purely on what you hear and see within the courtroom and you aren't influenced by any outside factors please don't discuss any details of the trial with anyone other than your fellow jurors not even your family and please don't remove any items of evidence or notes from the courtroom it is very important that if anyone approaches you about the trial or tries to influence you in any way you do not discuss it with any members of your jury and tell the jury officer or usher immediately an important notice to all jurors you are reminded it's a criminal offence punishable with a fine and or imprisonment for a juror to disclose to any person any particular statements made opinions expressed arguments advance or votes cast by the members of the jury in the course of their deliberations this means you must not speak to anyone at all about the cases you hear apart from your fellow jurors and when you are all together you must not use social networking sites to post details about any aspect of your jury service or about the discussion and decisions made by you and your fellow jurors whilst in deliberation you will also commit a criminal offence if you use the internet to research details about any cases you hear along with any of the cases listed for trial at the court please ensure you and fellow jurors observe the rules and if you have any concerns about this please speak to a member of court staff the judge will explain your duties as a juror before you're taken to the jury deliberation room to discuss the evidence and make your decision you'll be asked to nominate a full person to chair your discussions and act as a spokesperson when you return to the courtroom remember it's a serious offence to disclose any information about anything that's discussed in the jury room including the opinions of any juror usually the jury must continue discussing the evidence until they all agree on the verdict sometimes the judge may decide to accept a verdict that is not unanimous the judge will tell you when this is appropriate once the jury has reached agreement you'll return to the courtroom and the clerk will ask the full person to deliver the verdict if this is you be very careful to answer only those questions asked by the clerk has the jury reached a verdict upon which you all agreed yes do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty after this the jury's role in the trial is over but you should wait for the judge to tell you when to leave if you found the defendant guilty the judge may not pass a sentence on the same day [Music] if you have any queries during your jury service you can always speak to the jury officer or telephone the court office the phone number is on the jury summons if you are summoned again within two years you have the right to refuse or may serve if you wish after your service you are entitled to claim certain expenses and an allowance towards any loss of earnings or benefits arising from your attendance at court the jury officer will give you expenses forms and further details your role as a juror isn't an easy one there can be a lot of waiting around many rules and formalities to follow and lots to take in we do understand this and thank you for your cooperation and patience and once again apologize for the unavoidable delays that may occur the jury system gives the public an important role to play in the administration of justice you are now called upon as a juror to fulfill that role [Music]

Channel: HMCTSgovuk

Views: 191,440

Keywords: jury, juror, jury duty, court, trial, coming to court, Prepare for court, crown court, uk, judge and jury, HMCTS, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, what happens in court, united kingdom, how does a court work, uk justice

Id: UMbYXyn0lro

Length: 12min 36sec (756 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 02 2021