How fairare juries? A study published this week offers timely support for a system thatused to be regarded as one of the bulwarks of an Englishman's civilliberties but has come under increasing attack of late. InEngland, unlikeAmerica, juries no longer decidemost civil trials. And now the government is pushing a bill through Parliamentto abolish them in complex fraud cases.
InAmericatheselection of jurors acceptable to both the prosecution and the defencesometimes takes longer than the trial itself. The process can involveexhaustive interviews about prospective jurors' beliefs and prejudices. But inBritainjurors are selected randomly from the 94 Crown Court catchmentareas inEnglandandWales. Mostaccept the call, and there is little chance to challenge a juror unless heactually knows the defendant. This has not prevented assertions that Englishjuries produce verdicts that are racially biased because they do not accuratelyreflect society's ethnic mix.
Afour-year study by a team at the University of Birmingham's lawschool, led by Cheryl Thomas, has shown those charges to be largely a myth. Inover 95% of the 84 Crown Courts that were surveyed, ethnic minorities were notunder-represented among either those summoned for jury service or thoseactually serving as jurors. Members of ethnic minorities and whites wereequally willing to do jury service and to support the jury system.
The studypunctured another myth too: that juries are largely made up of theretired and the unemployed. Women, young people and self-employed folk were allfully represented, the report's authors concluded. And far from shirkingjury duty, fancy people in fancy jobs were found to be more conscientiousthan others, if anything. All in all, jury pools seem to reflect the localpopulation quite closely in terms of race, gender, age and background.
Yet theperception of racial bias is not always unfounded. In London, where 45% of ethnic minorities liveand a quarter of all jurors serve, juries are always racially mixed. But in 74of the 94 court-catchment areas, ethnic minorities, though sometimesconcentrated in pockets, make up less than 10% of the population overall. Theytherefore have little chance of being selected for jury duty.
Ms Thomasand her team chose to study racially mixed juries to see whether a defendant'srace influenced deliberations. Contrary to widespread belief, no discriminationwas found. In an elaborate case simulation at London's Blackfriars court,which involved more than 300 jurors on 27 juries, the verdicts were allremarkably similar, regardless of whether the defendant was black, Asian orwhite. This does not mean that adefendant's race did not influence individual jurors. Black and Asian jurymembers tended to show more leniency toward black defendants, whereaswhite jurors were usually softer on white defendants. But these individualbiases did not affect the collective verdicts of the juries. Ten of 12 jurorsmust usually agree for a verdict to be reached, so individual biases cancelledeach other out.
LordFalconer, the newly styled justice secretary, hailed the report as avindication of juries, which he believes are “utterly vital to our justicesystem”. This has not, apparently, changed his and the government'sdetermination to abolish juries for complex and lengthy fraud trials,however—despite the opposition of most lawyers, civil-liberties groups and thevast majority of the British public.
1.The government of Britian wants to abolish juries in complex fraud cases probably because_____
[A] there is no significance of jury’s existence since civil trials do not need it any more.
[B] the system of juries has been under increasing attack by all people of the society.
[C] juries do not accurately reflect society’s ethnic mix.
[D] the selection of jurors makes jury inefficient and intricate.
2. From he study by the team led by Cheryl Thomas, we may make the following conclusions except _____
[A] the juries reflect society’s ethnic mix.
[B] the juries could fully represent people of all walks of life.
[C] the juries are made of members of whites and ethnic minorities of equal number.
[D] the juries make verdicts without discrimination.
3. In the eyes of most Englishmen, the verdicts by juries are_____
[A] immune from discrimination.
[B] influenced by their prejudices.
[C] fair enough.
[D] influenced by the defendant.
4. About the racial bias of juries, which one of the following statements is TRUE?
[A] Racial bias is often counterbalanced with each other among individual jurors, resulting in a fair verdict.
[B] The jurors has almost none individual discrimination toward the defendant
[C] Racial bias exists in individual jurors but is seldom reflected in their final personal judgment.
[D] The jurors are usually well-trained in curbing their individual bias.
5. Towards the determination to abolish juries for complex fraud trials, Lord Falconer’s attitude can be said to be_____
[A] supportive.
[B] opposing.
[C] indifferent.
[D] dubious.
[答案]
1. B
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. B
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