The jury is considered the arbiter of the fact, who deals with all the issues
of fact. The jurors will secretly deliberate about whom they believe and disbe­
There is a very subtle difference between the iudge and the iury: the judge
deals with questions of law, while the jury deals with questions of fad. The
difference between the questions of law and the questions of Fad is also a very
subtle one. An example of a question of fact is the issue whether the defendant
was at a particular place at a particular time. This issue is called by lawyers a
question of primary fact. On the other hand, in a criminal trial, where the
intention is relevant, a question of fact will require an evaluation of all the
surrounding circumstances in coming to a conclusion about the defendant's
state of mind. For example, in a shop lifting (the offence of theftL if the defen­
dant was in a state of confusion resulted from the side effects of medication
and he had no intention to steal goods, the jury would be called upon to eluci­
date these facts. This is no longer conclusive in the complex cases of fraud or
deception, where these issues are more important than the primary facts. More­
over, the judge will have to deal with a question of law when defining the
constituent elements of the offence of theft.
The role of the iudge in a court of law is a passive one. He has the role of
the arbiter of the law, who controls the trial and directs the jury. The length of a
trial may vary from a few hours to a month or more; the average length of a
contested case is just under nine hours, which is about two days of court time.
If there are points of law involving admissibility of evidence which are easy to
decide upon without too much argue, the judge may exclude the jury. Other­
wise, the jury will listen to and will form opinions about the veracity of wit­
nesses. In this case, the judge will direct the iury to reach a verdict of guilt or
innocence. The iudge will be required to direct the jury to give a verdict of "not
guilty" if a conviction cannot, as a matter of law, be sustained in a case, dur­
ing a trial. The judge cannot ignore such a direction, the resulting verdict being
called a direct acquittal. The judge will also sum up the case for the jury, before
it retires to consider a verdict. In the summing up, the judge will summarize the
case, explain the legal issues in contention, comment on factors that lend weight
to or cast doubt on certain evidence, from an independent and impartial stand­
point. If the jury ignores the judge's explanation of the law when drawing a
conclusion or if the jury returns a verdict suspect of coming against the weight
of evidence, the verdict will be called perverse.
lieve. They must form a collective viewpoint about the case, as close to reality
as possible, resulted from the evidence beFore them. After determining whether
the defendant's actions constitute the offence charged, the jury retires and is
not allowed to interfere until a decision is reached. If the jurors cannot agree
and if every effort of coming to a conclusion fails, a new jury will be called and
the case will be retried. The old discharged jury is called a "hung" jury.
At first, the decision of the jury in a trial court had to be unanimous, al­
though it was usually requiring a new trial of the same case. This problem was
solved in 1967, when The Criminal Justice Act was adopted. It introduced the
principle of majority in the decision reached by the jury. Nowadays, it is pos­
sible to acquit a convict if ten jurors agree on a verdict, even if the jury consists
of eleven or twelve jurors, or if nine agree when the jury consists of ten jurors.
If a member of a twelve parties jury dies during the course of a trial, the trial will
go on, even if the decision will have to be reached by eleven jurors. It will stop
if the number of jurors decreases below ten.
Usually, the decision of the jury cannot be changed by an appeal. The
Court of Appeal will not reopen a case or reconsider the decision made by the
jury, unless there had been a mistake in the use of the right procedure. If this
happens, it means that the judge will fail to conduct the trial correctly and the
case is retried by the Court of Appeal.
WORD STUDY
issue = a point in question or a matter that is in dispute as
between contending parties in an action of law
to require = to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; or­
der or command; to demand someone to account for
his actions
evaluation = determining or setting the value or amount of
shoplifting = stealing goods from the shelves or displaying of a
retail store while posing as a customer
 1T3
side-eHed :.:: any effect of a drug, chemical or other medicine
that is in addition to its intended effect, especially
an effect that is harmful or unpleasant
-- 1. deceit, trickery sharp practice or breach of to require - to forgo
fraud I

confidence, used to gain some unfair or dishon­ veracity - dishonesty

partial - impartial
est advantage;
2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery contention - disagreement
:.:: something that deceives or is intended to deceive; to believe - to disbelieve
deception
froud; subterfuge; trickery
to contest
= to call a witness (in a lawsuit); to testify
admissibility
= capability of being admitted
veracity
= conformity to truth or fact; accuracy
to empanel
= 1. to enter on a panel or list for jury duty; 1. Answer the questions:
2. to select (a jury) from the panel 1. What does the judge deal with?
(to) convict :.:: 1. to prove or declare guilty of an offence, especially 2. What do the jurors deal with?
after a legal trial; 3. Give an example of a question of fact.
2. a person serving a prison sentence 4. Name a question of low.
standpoint :.:: the mental position, attitude, from which one views 5. What are the relations between the judge and the jury?
and judges things 6. What happens when the jury cannot agree on the verdict?
contention
= struggle between opponents; dispute; controversy 7. How many jurors are needed to obtain an accepted verdict?
perverse
= wilfully determined or disposed to go counter to what 8. When is the trial considered a failure by the trial judge?
is expected or desired; contrary
to mitigate
:.:: to make less severe 2. Which of the following statements are true and which are false?
confines
:.:: a boundary; border; frontier Correct the false ones.
to acquit
= to declare innocent; settle (a debt); behave oneself 0) The judge deals with questions of fact and the jury deals with questions of
aquittal
= declaration of innocence in court law.
b) The judge is the arbiter of the law.
e) The judge cannot ever exclude the jury.
~j;';~in$Y~Ot\~.~,
\""'''lM-~M>--;" "'"I}:"""7_r~:;!_;--;:'
.,.,,' :')<-<,
d) The judge is required to direct the jury fa return a verdict of "no f guiltyll if during
a trial a conviction cannot be sustained in a case.
to require =to demand e) Once the jury is refired, the judge delivers the sentence.
shoplifting :.:: theft f) Acquittal by a jury is sacred. The (ourf of Appeal can reopen or reconsider the
fraud = deception jury's decision.
to contest = to testify
veracity = honesty 3. Fill in the blanks with the missing words:
contention = controversy a) When the defendant commiHed a public offence under the effects of medi~afi(ll1r<
the jury will be called upon to ......... the fads. ,...
 113
IHE ROLE <O,jO.G.?.Atdiw.lgj~iii~~~'~~
victions are disqualified either for life or for ten years depending on the seri­
b) At all stages, the role of the ......... is passive. ousness of the offence.
c) The ......... has the last word before the ......... retires to consider a There is a group in the population who have a right to be excused if sum­
verdict when he sums up the case for the jury. moned; for them, service as jurors is optional. These include those over 65,
d) The verdict is coiled ......... when the jury ignores the judge's explana­ members and officers of Parliament, the military and the medical profession,
tion of the law. including veterinary practitioners. There are two general grounds on which a
e} ......... must debate in secret their deliberations about whom they believe and juror has a right to claim to be excused of jury service: when the juror has
disbelieve. attended court for jury service within the previous two years or when the juror
has been excused jury service for a longer period which has not expired (to
4. What do you call a person who:
those who have served in long and complex trials). A juror who shows, or
a) Deals with questions of law
about whom it becomes apparent that he or she cannot efficiently be elected as
b) Deals with questions of fad
a juror because of a physical disability or insufficient understanding of En­
c) Is the arbiter of the law
glish, must be discharged.
d) Is the arbiter of the foct
5. Comment on: From "The Administration ofJustice", by Robin C. White
At court, everyone for himself.

READING PRACTICE
SElECTION OF THE JURY
The principle underlying the selection of the English jury is that of random­
ness. The theory is that a jury chosen at random will be representative of the
community. Any prejudices held by particular members of the jury are likely to
be counteracted by the good sense of the other members of the jury. In marked
contrast, the principle underlying the selection of the jury in the United States is
that of securing a "neutral" jury which will try the case dispassionately accord­
ing to the evidence. Potential jurors are subjected to detailed questioning either
by the councilor by the judge to reveal any prejudices and to confirm neutra­
lity.
The basic qualification for the jury service in England and Wales is the
simple age and residence qualification. All persons aged between 18 and 70
registered as Parliamentary or local government electors who have been resi·
dent in the United Kingdom for at least five years since attaining the age of 13
are eligible for jury service. The advent of computerised databases means that
today jury panels are selected genuinely at random from electoral lists using
random selection computer programmes. Persons with certain criminal con-