The Role of the Jury
Juries
 Fundamental to our
justice system
 12 people are
chosen at random
for a criminal trial
 Will listen to
testimony in a
courtroom to
determine guilt
beyond a
reasonable doubt or
innocence
Qualifications
People who can be Jurors:
 Must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old, and a
resident of the province for at least one year
People who cannot be Jurors:
 Elected officials and people working in the justice system such
as lawyers, police, and probation officers cannot serve as
jurors, or are attending law school
 Officers and non-commissioned members of the military or
reserves
 Have been convicted of a crime and spend two or more years
in prison
Jury Selection
 Potential jurors in Nova Scotia are
selected from the Health Registration
List
 A large group of randomly selected
citizens from which a jury is selected
from is known as a jury panel
 Arraignment is the first stage of a
criminal trial in which the court clerk
reads the charge and the defendant
enters a plea
 The accused is brought before a
judge and jury panel for arraignment
to enter a guilty or not guilty plea
 If the plea is not guilty jurors will then
be selected from the jury panel by the
Crown and defence attorney
Jury Selection
Steps:
 Challenge for a cause is
1)
Potential jurors names from
jury panel are randomly drawn
the right of the crown or
the accused to exclude
someone from a jury for
a particular reason such
as:
2)
Person drawn goes before the
court and faces the accused
1)
Already has formed an
opinion about the case
2)
Physically unable to
perform jury duty
3)
Has been convicted of a
serious offence
3)
4)
Crown and defence may
object to a potential juror
Either counsel may make a
challenge for a cause
 Each side is given an
unlimited number of
challenges for a cause
Jury Selection
Steps:
5)
6)
A juror could be
accepted as suitable
and impartial but still
dismissed by the
Crown or defence
with a peremptory
challenge
The 12 selected
jurors take the juror’s
oath
 A peremptory challenge is the right
of the crown or the defence to
exclude someone from a jury
without providing a reason
 Trial is an adversarial process with
the state being the more powerful
party – gives the accused to say “I
really don’t want that person.”
 20 challenges are given to each
side for serious cases such as
murder and treason
 Less serious cases where the
sentence will be less than five
years in prison, only 12 challenges
are granted
Jury Selection
A reason for the
peremptory challenge