Jury trial: Encyclopedia II - Jury trial - History of jury trials

Jury trial - History of jury trials

Juries were developed at least as early as the Dark Ages in England. The Anglo-Saxons passed on the system to the modern age; however, they may have been influenced by the customs of the Danes or earlier Saxon tradition. The English king Ethelred the Unready set up an early legal system through the Wantage Code of Ethelred, one provision of which stated that the twelve leading thegns (minor nobles) of each wapentake (a small district) were required to swear that they would investigate crimes without a bias. These juries differed from the modern sort by being self-informing; instead of getting information through a trial, the jurors were required to investigate the case themselves.[1]

King Henry II took a major step in developing the jury system. Henry II set up a system to resolve land disputes using juries. A jury of twelve free men were assigned to arbitrate in these disputes. Unlike the modern jury, these men were charged with uncovering the facts of the case on their own rather than listening to arguments in court.

Henry II also introduced what is now known as the "grand jury" through his Assize of Clarendon. Under the assize, a jury of free men was charged with reporting any crimes that they knew of in their hundred to a "justice in eyre," a judge who moved between hundred on a circuit. A criminal accused by this jury was given a trial by ordeal.

The Church banned participation of clergy in trial by ordeal in 1215. Without the legitimacy of religion, trial by ordeal collapsed. The juries under the assizes began deciding guilt as well as providing accusations. The same year, trial by jury became an implied right in one the most influential clauses of Magna Carta, signed by King John. Article 39 of the Magna Carta read:

Over time, English juries became less self-informing and relied more on the trial itself for information on the case. Jurors remained free to investigate cases on their own until the 17th century.

Many English colonies adopted the jury trial system including the United States. Jury trials in criminal cases were a protected right in the original Constitution and the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments of the Constitution extend the rights to trial by jury to include the right to jury trial at the state level for both criminal and civil matters and a grand jury for serious cases.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of jury trials", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki