Jury origins and early history
A jury is a body of lay men and women randomly selected to determine facts and to provide a decision in a legal proceeding. It traditionally consists of 12 people.
The exact origin of the jury system is not known. Trial by jury was brought to England by the Normans in 1066.
In medieval Europe, trials were usually decided by ordeals. People believed that God intervened in the process, revealing the wrongdoer and helping the innocent. The main types of ordeal were ordeals by divination, physical test, and battle. The purpose was not punitive, but the people whose guilt or innocence was tested usually did not survive the ordeal. For example, suspected witches were thrown into water. If the woman went straight to the bottom and drowned, it was a sure sign that she wasn’t a witch. If she just bobbed around for a while, the law said she was guilty and she was fished out of water and burnt.
Later the Catholic Church decided that trial by ordeal was superstition. As a result, a new method of trial was needed, and the jury system emerged.
At first the jury was made up of local people who rendered their verdict on the basis of their knowledge of local affairs. The word verdict means “truly said”.
Later the role of the jury changed and its modern role is to decide facts on the sole basis of what is heard in court.
For many years serving jury duty was very unpopular. In American colonies jurors were locked in a small room with no ventilation, food and water to inspire (побудить) a quick verdict. As more and more laws were passed, the rules of evidence (правила дачи показаний) expanded. Trials became longer, with more technical and increasingly boring hours for jurors. Trial lawyers try to change the boredom by replacing endless hours of testimony with computer animation, video reconstructions, color charts and graphics to better explain the evidence.
Jury duty in the past and today
In older times serving jury duty was both unpleasant and unwanted. In America during colonial days, jurors were locked in a small room with no ventilation, food or water and they had to render a quick verdict. If the jurors returned with the wrong decisions, they were charged with a crime. Later more and more laws were passed, the rules of giving evidence were becoming more complex and trials became longer. This resulted in more technical and boring hours for jurors. Trial lawyers have tried to change the situation with the help of computer animations, video and color charts to better explain the evidence.
The work of a juror is unpaid, only travel expenses are covered, so people are not much willing to serve as jurors these days too. That is way they sometimes invent different reasons in order to be excused from jury service. It may be a big load of work in their offices, physical disabilities, illnesses, etc.
On the other hand, the right to a trial by jury of their peers (равные) is a constitutional right of all citizens. Being summoned for jury duty, people should look upon it as an opportunity to serve their country, their community, and their fellow citizens.
The job of a juror is to listen to all the evidence presented at trial, to ‘decide the facts’ – that is, to decide what really happened, and to render a verdict. In order to do their job jurors do not need any special knowledge or ability. It is enough to keep an open mind, use their common sense, and be fair, honest and impartial.