National Prosecutors' Conference: Juries are unrepresentative of the population at large, but the main factor affecting jury verdicts is the evidence, according to Dr Penny Derbyshire, who prepared a report on juries for the English and Welsh courts.
The considerable body of research into juries showed that the best advocates are the best story-tellers. Juries are persuaded by simple, direct language, she told the fourth annual prosecutors conference.
She said that they have a lot of difficulty in understanding instructions from the judge, but this could be improved by judges using shorter sentences, less technical language, and giving out written instructions. The requirement that a person be found guilty "beyond reasonable doubt" caused juries problems, she said. She suggested that explaining the level of proof necessary in percentage terms would help explain "beyond reasonable doubt".
In her report for the English and Welsh courts, much of which she said was applicable to Ireland, she had suggested that the pool of potential jurors be broadened by eliminating most of those who were disqualified, and greatly reducing the number of people who avoided jury duty when called.
In order to improve the quality of jury verdicts, it may be necessary for them to have access to the transcripts of trials, she said. They should have written as well as verbal instructions on the law, and should be encouraged to discuss the evidence at an interim stage during the trial.
Judge Maureen Harding Clark, the Irish judge on the newly-constituted International Criminal Court, stressed the importance of this court in ensuring that no groups were excluded from the protection of the law. Judge Harding Clark, who topped the poll in the vote at the UN for a position on the 14-member court, told The Irish Times she was now working on pre-trial procedures and victim representation, and helping out the President of the court, Judge Philippe Kirsch, in the absence of a second vice-president.
She said that the court registry has already received hundreds of complaints, including several very well-prepared complaints from NGOs. The judges do not see the complaints, which go to the office of the Prosecutor. He will decide on whether or not to proceed to prosecution, and then a complaint will go initially to a pre-trial chamber, which authorises the prosecutor to continue with the investigation. The case then goes to the trial chamber, where Judge Harding Clark sits. It will be March 2004 at the earliest before this chamber hears any cases, she said.