The Role of the Jury

1
The Role of the Jury
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Juries

• Fundamental to our justice system
• 12 people are chosen at random for a criminal
  trial
• Will listen to testimony in a courtroom to
  determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or
  innocence

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Qualifications

• People who can be Jurors
• Must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years
  old, and a resident of the province for at least
  one year
• People who cannot be Jurors
• Elected officials and people working in the
  justice system such as lawyers, police, and
  probation officers cannot serve as jurors, or are
  attending law school
• Officers and non-commissioned members of the
  military or reserves
• Have been convicted of a crime and spend two or
  more years in prison

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Jury Selection

• Potential jurors in Nova Scotia are selected from
  the Health Registration List
• A large group of randomly selected citizens from
  which a jury is selected from is known as a jury
  panel
• Arraignment is the first stage of a criminal
  trial in which the court clerk reads the charge
  and the defendant enters a plea
• The accused is brought before a judge and jury
  panel for arraignment to enter a guilty or not
  guilty plea
• If the plea is not guilty jurors will then be
  selected from the jury panel by the Crown and
  defence attorney

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Jury Selection

• Steps
• Potential jurors names from jury panel are
  randomly drawn
• Person drawn goes before the court and faces the
  accused
• Crown and defence may object to a potential juror
  
• Either counsel may make a challenge for a cause

• Challenge for a cause is the right of the crown
  or the accused to exclude someone from a jury for
  a particular reason such as
• 1) Already has formed an opinion about the case
• 2) Physically unable to perform jury duty
• 3) Has been convicted of a serious offence
• Each side is given an unlimited number of
  challenges for a cause

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Jury Selection

• A peremptory challenge is the right of the crown
  or the defence to exclude someone from a jury
  without providing a reason
• Trial is an adversarial process with the state
  being the more powerful party gives the accused
  to say I really dont want that person.
• 20 challenges are given to each side for serious
  cases such as murder and treason
• Less serious cases where the sentence will be
  less than five years in prison, only 12
  challenges are granted

• Steps
• A juror could be accepted as suitable and
  impartial but still dismissed by the Crown or
  defence with a peremptory challenge
• The 12 selected jurors take the jurors oath

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Jury Selection

• A reason for the peremptory challenge