In Constance the jury trial was suppressed by decree of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1786.
In England in 1791, civil actions were divided into actions at law and actions in equity.
Today, in actions that would have been "at law" in 1791, there is a right to a jury; in actions that would have been "in equity" in 1791, there is no right to a jury.
To determine whether the action would have been legal or equitable in 1791, one must first look at the type of action and whether such an action was considered "legal" or "equitable" at that time.
The modern jury trial was first introduced in the Rhenish provinces in 1798, with a court consisting most commonly of 12 citizens (Bürger). The system whereby citizens were tried by their peers chosen from the entire community in open court was gradually superseded by a system of professional judges in Germany, in which the process of investigation was more or less confidential and judgements were issued by judges appointed by the state.
The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes. The first trials by civilian juries of 12 in the colony of New South Wales were held in 1824, following a decision of the NSW Supreme Court on 14 October 1824.
The NSW Constitution Act of 1828 effectively terminated trial by jury for criminal matters.
Jury trials for criminal matters revived with the passing of the Jury Trials Amending Act of 1833 (NSW) (2 William IV No 12). ====Challenging potential jurors==== The voir dire system of examining the jury pool before selection is not permitted in Australia as it violates the privacy of jurors.
The Frankfurt Constitution of the failed Revolutions of 1848 called for jury trials for "the more serious crimes and all political offenses", but was never implemented after the Frankfurt Parliament was dissolved by Württemberg dragoons.
Juries may be dismissed and skeptical juries have been dismissed on the verge of verdicts, and acquittals are frequently overturned by higher courts. Trial by jury was first introduced in the Russian Empire as a result of the Judicial reform of Alexander II in 1864, and abolished after the October Revolution in 1917.
An 1873 draft on criminal procedure produced by the Prussian Ministry of Justice proposed to abolish the jury and replace it with the mixed system, causing a significant political debate.
The saiban-in system was implemented in May 2009. === Kuba Kingdom === The Kuba Kingdom, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, developed trial by jury independently prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1884. === New Zealand === The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides a defendant with the right to a jury trial if they are charged with a criminal offence punishable by two years' imprisonment or more.
Juries may be dismissed and skeptical juries have been dismissed on the verge of verdicts, and acquittals are frequently overturned by higher courts. Trial by jury was first introduced in the Russian Empire as a result of the Judicial reform of Alexander II in 1864, and abolished after the October Revolution in 1917.
In the Weimar Republic the jury was abolished by the Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924. Between 1948 and 1950 in American-occupied Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany, Bavaria returned to the jury trial as it had existed before the 1933 emergency decrees, but they were again abolished by the 1950 Unification Act (Vereinheitlichungsgesetz) for the Federal Republic.
Since 1927 South Australia has permitted majority verdicts of 11:1, and 10:1 or 9:1 where the jury has been reduced, in criminal trials if a unanimous verdict cannot be reached in four hours.
In Japan, for instance, which used to have optional jury trials for capital or other serious crimes between 1928 and 1943, the defendant could freely choose whether to have a jury or trial by judges, and the decisions of the jury were non-binding.
Infamous cases include the Scottsboro Boys, a group of nine African-American teenagers accused of raping two White American women on a train in 1931, for which they were indicted by an all-white jury, the acquittal of two white men Roy Bryant and J.
In the Weimar Republic the jury was abolished by the Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924. Between 1948 and 1950 in American-occupied Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany, Bavaria returned to the jury trial as it had existed before the 1933 emergency decrees, but they were again abolished by the 1950 Unification Act (Vereinheitlichungsgesetz) for the Federal Republic.
Majority verdicts of 10:2 have been allowed in Tasmania since 1936 for all cases except murder and treason if a unanimous decision has not been made within two hours.
In Japan, for instance, which used to have optional jury trials for capital or other serious crimes between 1928 and 1943, the defendant could freely choose whether to have a jury or trial by judges, and the decisions of the jury were non-binding.
Since 1943 verdicts of "not guilty" for murder and treason have also been included, but must be discussed for six hours.
In the Weimar Republic the jury was abolished by the Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924. Between 1948 and 1950 in American-occupied Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany, Bavaria returned to the jury trial as it had existed before the 1933 emergency decrees, but they were again abolished by the 1950 Unification Act (Vereinheitlichungsgesetz) for the Federal Republic.
In the Weimar Republic the jury was abolished by the Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924. Between 1948 and 1950 in American-occupied Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany, Bavaria returned to the jury trial as it had existed before the 1933 emergency decrees, but they were again abolished by the 1950 Unification Act (Vereinheitlichungsgesetz) for the Federal Republic.
The jury found no place in the 1950 Indian Constitution, and it was ignored in many Indian states.The Law Commission recommended its abolition in 1958 in its 14th Report.
Milan by an all-white jury for the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 (they admitted killing him in a magazine interview a year later), and the 1992 trial in the Rodney King case in California, in which white police officers were acquitted of excessive force in the beating of King, an African-American man.
Western Australia accepted majority verdicts in 1957 for all trials except where the crime is murder or has a life sentence.
The jury found no place in the 1950 Indian Constitution, and it was ignored in many Indian states.The Law Commission recommended its abolition in 1958 in its 14th Report.
State of Maharashtra case in 1959 also influenced the abolition.
The Northern Territory has allowed majority verdicts of 10:2, 10:1 and 9:1 since 1963 and does not discriminate between cases whether the charge is murder or not.
Its reintroduction was opposed by the Prosecutor General. ===Singapore=== Singapore fully abolished the jury system in 1969, though jury trials for non-capital offenses had already been abolished a decade earlier.
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, a former trial lawyer, explained why he supported the policy to the BBC and in his memoirs, saying, "I had no faith in a system that allowed the superstition, ignorance, biases, and prejudices of seven jurymen to determine guilt or innocence." ===South Africa=== The jury system was abolished in South Africa in 1969 by the Abolition of Juries Act, 1969.
Diplock courts are common in Northern Ireland for crimes connected to terrorism. Diplock courts were created in the 1970s during The Troubles, to phase out Operation Demetrius internments, and because of the argument that juries were intimidated, though this is disputed.
According sections 274 and 275 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the jury was composed from 3 (for smaller offences judged in session courts) to 9 (for severe offences judges in High Courts) men; and when the accused were European or American, at least half of the jurors had to be European or American men. Jury trials were abolished in most Indian courts by the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure.
West Bengal had Jury trials as late as 1973.
The principal statute regulating the selection, obligations and conduct of juries is the Juries Act 1976 as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, which scrapped the upper age limit of 70.
Until 1987 New South Wales had twenty peremptory challenges for each side where the offence was murder, and eight for all other cases.
In 1987 this was lowered to three peremptory challenges per side, the same amount allowed in South Australia.
(New York: American Lawyer Books/TOUCHSTONE, 1989). Burns, Robert.
The saiban-in system was implemented in May 2009. === Kuba Kingdom === The Kuba Kingdom, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, developed trial by jury independently prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1884. === New Zealand === The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides a defendant with the right to a jury trial if they are charged with a criminal offence punishable by two years' imprisonment or more.
Milan by an all-white jury for the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 (they admitted killing him in a magazine interview a year later), and the 1992 trial in the Rodney King case in California, in which white police officers were acquitted of excessive force in the beating of King, an African-American man.
They were reintroduced in the Russian Federation in 1993, and extended to another 69 regions in 2003.
Victoria has accepted majority verdicts with the same conditions since 1994, though deliberations must go on for six hours before a majority verdict can be made.
The Queensland Jury Act 1995 (s 59F) allows majority verdicts for all crimes except for murder and other offences that carry a life sentence, although only 11:1 or 10:1 majorities are allowed.
Article 86 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, which came into force on 1 July 1997 following the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China provides: "The principle of trial by jury previously practised in Hong Kong shall be maintained." Criminal trials in the High Court are by jury.
We the jury… (New York: Prometheus Books, 1997). Sadakat Kadri, The Trial: A History from Socrates to O.J.
This was designed to make it more difficult for jury tampering to succeed. In 1999 the then Home Secretary Jack Straw introduced a controversial bill to limit the right to trial by jury.
They were reintroduced in the Russian Federation in 1993, and extended to another 69 regions in 2003.
This became the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which sought to remove the right to trial by jury for cases involving jury tampering or complex fraud.
Only serious crimes like murder can be tried by the Corte d'Assise. === Japan === On May 28, 2004, the Diet of Japan enacted a law requiring selected citizens to take part in criminal court trials of certain severe crimes to make decisions together with professional judges, both on guilt and on the sentence.
However, most states give the defendant the absolute right to waive a jury trial, and it has become commonplace to find such a waiver in routine contracts as a 2004 Wall Street Journal Article states: 'For years, in an effort to avoid the slow-moving wheels of the U.S.
Critics say that unfairly denies citizens' access to the full range of legal options guaranteed by the Constitution.' In the years since this 2004 article, this practice has become pervasive in the US and, especially in online agreements, it has become commonplace to include such waivers to trial by jury in everything from user agreements attached to software downloads to merely browsing a website.
HarperCollins, 2005.
Majority verdicts were introduced in New South Wales in 2006.
The Bill was subject to sharp criticism from both sides of the House of Commons before passing its second Commons reading in November 2006, but was defeated in the Lords in March 2007. The trial for the first serious offence to be tried without a jury for 350 years was allowed to go ahead in 2009.
The provision for trial without jury to circumvent jury tampering succeeded and came into force in 2007; the provision for complex fraud cases was defeated.
The Bill was subject to sharp criticism from both sides of the House of Commons before passing its second Commons reading in November 2006, but was defeated in the Lords in March 2007. The trial for the first serious offence to be tried without a jury for 350 years was allowed to go ahead in 2009.
The Diplock courts were shut in 2007, but between 1 August 2008 and 31 July 2009, 13 non-jury trials were held, down from 29 in the previous year, and 300 trials per year at their peak. ===United States=== The availability of a trial by jury in American jurisdictions varies.
The principal statute regulating the selection, obligations and conduct of juries is the Juries Act 1976 as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, which scrapped the upper age limit of 70.
of the European Convention on Human Rights, by the Supreme Court of Sweden, in 2012. ===Switzerland=== As of 2008, only the code of criminal procedure of the Canton of Geneva provides for genuine jury trials.
The Diplock courts were shut in 2007, but between 1 August 2008 and 31 July 2009, 13 non-jury trials were held, down from 29 in the previous year, and 300 trials per year at their peak. ===United States=== The availability of a trial by jury in American jurisdictions varies.
Clive Grossman SC in a commentary in 2009 said conviction rates were "approaching those of North Korea". Many complex commercial cases are prosecuted in the District Court rather than before a jury in the High Court.
In 2009, Lily Chiang, former chairwoman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, lost an application to have her case transferred from the District Court to the High Court for a jury trial.
The saiban-in system was implemented in May 2009. === Kuba Kingdom === The Kuba Kingdom, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, developed trial by jury independently prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1884. === New Zealand === The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides a defendant with the right to a jury trial if they are charged with a criminal offence punishable by two years' imprisonment or more.
The Bill was subject to sharp criticism from both sides of the House of Commons before passing its second Commons reading in November 2006, but was defeated in the Lords in March 2007. The trial for the first serious offence to be tried without a jury for 350 years was allowed to go ahead in 2009.
The Diplock courts were shut in 2007, but between 1 August 2008 and 31 July 2009, 13 non-jury trials were held, down from 29 in the previous year, and 300 trials per year at their peak. ===United States=== The availability of a trial by jury in American jurisdictions varies.
University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Because the unified Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure (set to enter into force in 2011) does not provide for jury trials or lay judges, however, they are likely to be abolished in the near future. ===Ukraine=== The judiciary of Ukraine allows jury trials for criminal cases where the sentence can reach life imprisonment if the accused so wishes.
of the European Convention on Human Rights, by the Supreme Court of Sweden, in 2012. ===Switzerland=== As of 2008, only the code of criminal procedure of the Canton of Geneva provides for genuine jury trials.
Arguments for and against the re-introduction of a jury system have been discussed by South African constitutional expert Professor Pierre de Vos in the article "Do we need a jury system?" On 28 March 2014, the Oscar Pistorius trial was adjourned due to the illness of one of the two assessors that assist the judge on questions of fact (rather than law), in place of the jury, to reach a verdict.
Although it has a Civil Law process, since November 2015, it now has Jury system for serious crimes cases. ===Australia=== The Australian Constitution provides that: "80.
In that event, the case is settled by three judges and four lay-judges. In May 2015, the Norwegian Parliament asked the government to bring an end to jury trials, replacing them with a bench trial (meddomsrett) consisting of two law-trained judges and three lay judges (lekdommere).
This has not been fully implemented yet as of February 2016, but is expected soon. === Russia === In the judiciary of Russia, for serious crimes the accused has the option of a jury trial consisting of 12 jurors.
Louisiana also did not require unanimous juries in serious felony cases until passage of a state constitutional amendment going into effect for crimes committed on or after January 1, 2019.
In several southern states, the jury sets punishment, while in most states and at the federal level, it is set by the judge. Prior to 2020, under most states' laws, verdicts in criminal cases must be unanimous with the exception of Oregon and Louisiana.
Louisiana, decided in April 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that felony convictions must be a unanimous vote from the jury, overturning Oregon's and Louisiana's prior allowances for split decisions. In civil cases, the law (or the agreement of the parties) may permit a non-unanimous verdict. A jury's deliberations are conducted in private, out of sight and hearing of the judge, litigants, witnesses, and others in the courtroom. Not every case is eligible for a jury trial.
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