16 April 20087
We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to require juries in criminal trials who find a defendant guilty, to record their reasoning behind each verdict."
Details of petition:
"By requiring juries in criminal trials who find a defendant guilty, to record their reasoning behind each verdict, the defence would be able to see whether the jury’s decisions were correctly based on the evidence or incorrectly and unreasonably based on opinions, misunderstood directions, etc. It should then be possible to appeal where it can be shown that the jury failed to make their decision based on the evidence. The grounds of appeal could be that ‘no reasonable jury acting reasonably would have come to that conclusion’. This would go a long way to increase the number of falsely accused and wrongly convicted people who can have their wrongful convictions overturned."
Read the Government’s response
Juries make an invaluable contribution to the criminal justice system. The institution of the jury is an important way of involving the community in the administration of justice, and an integral component of citizenship. Trial by jury will remain the way in which the vast majority of criminal trials for serious offences are conducted.
The Government does not propose to require juries to give reasons. Jurors are ordinary members of the public, drawn at random from the community. It would not be appropriate to expect them to give reasons for their decision, as if they were legally trained. Furthermore, different jurors may have different reasons for their individual decisions. Bearing in mind that the verdict is the verdict of the jury as a whole, the reasons would have to be agreed by all twelve members of the jury. Such a requirement would be a recipe for disruption and would undermine trial by jury.
Where there is reason to believe that a jury has returned a guilty verdict in the face of contrary evidence, there is nothing to prevent the defendant from appealing against conviction in the normal way.