... serious offences against the person that should be restricted. The primary aim of our justice system is to be fair and just and the rights of the defendant must be paramount, but we also have a responsibility to ensure that those rights are not abused. The public generally regards the jury as a cornerstone in the criminal justice system, an important element in legitimating the system and ensuring public acceptance. Defended by some as the bastion of democracy, castigated by others as old-fashioned system that allows miscarriages of justice to take place, the jury has been part of the Criminal Justice System in one form or another since the twelfth century. The more 313882 mundane functions of the jury include listening to the testimony and evidence provided by the prosecution or defence, the argument of the counsel and the summing up and directions of the judge. Jurors are expected to perform a ...

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