Jury trial is one of our most cherished democratic rituals and a cornerstone of public confidence in the criminal justice system. Twelve citizens, drawn at random from the ordinary fabric of life, sit together and weigh the state’s evidence against the accused.
Their pivotal role, a feature of English law from the very earliest times, was secured over 300 years ago in the decision known as ‘Bushel’s Case’. A judge attempted to pressure jurors into changing their minds rather than acquit two Quakers charged with ‘unlawful assembly’. The upper courts pushed back, ruling that juries could not be coerced to change their verdicts. The inviolability of juries’ decisions has since served as a rock on which trust in our system is built.
