Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:34:54.613Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trial by Jury: Some Empirical Evidence on Contested Criminal Cases in England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

John Baldwin  and
Michael McConville
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The authors of this article attempt to examine jury performance by collating and comparing views on the jury's verdicts drawn from other participants in the trial. This research is based on a study of jury trials heard in the Crown Court at Birmingham, England, together with additional material drawn from a sample of cases in London. It shows that doubts about both acquittals and convictions by jury were expressed with a surprising frequency. An examination of the remedies available to correct miscarriages of justice demonstrates the ineffectiveness of current appeals procedures. The authors conclude that it is necessary to evaluate the jury's function within a political context.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , Summer 1979 , pp. 861 - 890
Copyright
Copyright © 1979 Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

We are indebted to the Home Office who generously funded the research discussed in this article. The views expressed in the article are the authors' alone and not to be taken as those of the Home Office.

References

ARENS, Richard, Dom D., GRANFIELD and Jackwell, SUSMAN (1965) “Jurors, Jury Charges and Insanity,” 14 Catholic University of America Law Review 1.Google Scholar
BALDWIN, John and McCONVILLE, Michael (1978) “The New Home Office Figures on Pleas and Acquittals—What sense do they make?” Criminal Law Review 196.Google Scholar
BALDWIN, John (1979a) Jury Trials. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BALDWIN, John (1979b) “The Legal Profession and the Politics of Research: A Case Study,” in Luckham, R. (ed.), Law and Social Enquiry: Case Histories of Research. New York: International Center for Law and Development, and Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies.Google Scholar
BECKER, Howard S. (1967) “Whose side are we on?” 14 Social Problems 239.Google Scholar
BECKER, Theodore L. (1970) Comparative Judicial Politics. Chicago: Rand-McNally.Google Scholar
BOTTOMS, Anthony E. and Monica A., WALKER (1972) “The American Jury: A Critique,” 67 Journal of the American Statistical Association 773.Google Scholar
BRANDON, Ruth and Christie, DAVIES (1973) Wrongful Imprisonment: Mistaken Convictions and their Consequences. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
BROEDER, Dale W. (1965) “The Negro in Court,” 19 Duke Law Journal 19.Google Scholar
BROOKS, W. Neil and Anthony N., DOOB (1975) “Justice and the Jury,” 33 Journal of Social Issues 171.Google Scholar
COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW (1969) Note, “Trial By Jury in Criminal Cases,” 69 Columbia Law Review 419.Google Scholar
CORNISH, William R. (1968) The Jury. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
DU PARCQ Lord (1948) Aspects of Law. Holdsworth Club Address presented at University of Birmingham, 1948.Google Scholar
ERLANGER, Howard S. (1970) “Jury Research in America,” 4 Law and Society Review 345.Google Scholar
FORSYTH, William (1852) History of Trial By Jury. London.Google Scholar
FRANK, Jerome (1949) Courts on Trial. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
HOFFMAN, Harold M. and Joseph, BRODLEY (1952) “Jurors on Trial,” 17 Missouri Law Review 235.Google Scholar
KALVEN, Harry and Hans, ZEISEL (1966) The American Jury. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
McBARNET, Doreen J. (1976) “Pre-trial Procedures and the Construction of Conviction,” in Carlen, P. (ed.), The Sociology of Law. Keele: University of Keele Sociological Review Monograph.Google Scholar
McCABE, Sarah and Robert, PURVES (1972) The Jury at Work. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
McCABE, Sarah (1974) The Shadow Jury at Work. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
MUNGHAM, Geoff and Zenon, BANKOWSKI (1976) “The Jury in the Legal System,” in Carlen, P. (ed.), The Sociology of Law. Keele: University of Keele Sociological Review Monograph.Google Scholar
NOKES, Gerald D. (1956) “The English Jury and the Law of Evidence,” 31 Tulane Law Review 153.Google Scholar
SIMON, Rita J. (1970) “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: An Experimental Attempt at Quantification,” 6 Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 203.Google Scholar
SIMON, Rita J. and Linda, MAHAN (1971) “Quantifying Burdens of Proof: A View from the Bench, the Jury, and the Classroom,” 5 Law and Society Review 319.Google Scholar
SIMON, Rita J. and Prentice, MARSHALL (1972) “The Jury System,” in Nagel, S.S. (ed.), The Rights of The Accused. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
THAYER, James B. (1898) A Preliminary Treatise on Evidence. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
WALSH, Michael H. (1969) “The American Jury: A Reassessment,” 79 Yale Law Journal 142.Google Scholar
ZANDER, Michael (1972) “Legal Advice and Criminal Appeals: A Survey of Prisoners, Prisons, and Lawyers,” Criminal Law Review 132.Google Scholar
ZANDER, Michael (1974) “Acquittal Rates and Not Guilty Pleas: What do the Statistics Mean?” Criminal Law Review 401.Google Scholar
ZANDER, Michael (1975) “Legal Advice on Criminal Appeals: The New Machinery,” Criminal Law Review 364.Google Scholar