Thank you.
I'd like to thank the committee for the invitation to provide evidence today about my research on the impact of jury service on members of the public. In these opening remarks, I'll provide the committee with some background on the perception of the issue in England and Wales, my research with jurors on this specific issue, a brief summary of those research findings, and information on the new criminal procedure rule introduced in England and Wales as a result of this research.
As director of the UCL jury project, I have been conducting research with jurors in England and Wales since 2002. My research is conducted only with actual jurors at court. I do not use students or other members of the public as proxies for jurors. My evidence today is drawn from immediate post-verdict surveys that I conduct with large numbers of juries before they leave court.
The impact of jury service on members of the public has been raised as an issue in England and Wales for a number of reasons. There have been a number of cases in recent years where jurors have publicly expressed concerns about the impact of jury service after a trial. These jurors have said that they were finding it difficult to cope, because they were not able to talk about the case to anyone when it was over. This clearly indicated that jurors were confused about the rules on disclosing their experience of jury service. Another factor here is the recent increase in sexual offences cases being tried by juries. Ten years ago, sexual offences made up less than a quarter of offences tried by juries in England and Wales. Today this has increased to over a third.
I think it might be helpful at this point to explain a few aspects of jury service in England and Wales. A quarter of a million people do jury service in England and Wales every year. We no longer have anyone who is excused as of right. We use a process of random selection, from initial summoning through to the final empanelling of a jury. We do not use voir dire or peremptory challenges. My research has shown that this produces a group of jurors at each crown court who are remarkably representative of their local population. This is important in relation to the impact of jury service on the public, as our jurors encompass an extremely wide range of individuals.
Until last year, the approach to providing juror support and aftercare was mostly passive. Leaflets were left for jurors at court explaining how to contact the Samaritans if they wanted to discuss how they were feeling. The Samaritans is a non-governmental, voluntary organization that provides confidential support 24 hours a day across the U.K. via a free phone line. In some exceptionally difficult cases, judges on their own initiative have arranged for a team of Samaritans to meet with jurors at the start or end of a case to explain what support was available.
In 2016 I was asked by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales to assess the following issues: juror understanding of their legal responsibilities, which included juror understanding of rules on disclosing cases both during and after trial; the impact of jury service on those who serve on juries; and juror demand for support and aftercare. I'm happy to share some of the main findings of this research with the committee today. I should say that these are unpublished findings, but they will be published later this year.
The first main finding was that a large proportion of jurors were clearly confused about what they could talk about, with whom and when, both during and after the trial. This was producing unnecessary stress for jurors.
The second main finding was that the overwhelming majority of jurors who served on a jury found jury service to be a positive, not negative, experience. When asked to describe their experience of jury service, the highest results were for such positive descriptions as educational, interesting, and informative. The lowest results were for such negative descriptions as depressing, confusing, boring, and worrying. Only a minority said the experience was stressful.
The third main finding was that only a very small proportion of jurors said they would contact the Samaritans to discuss how they were feeling about jury service. Many jurors thought the Samaritans was only for people who were suicidal. However, it was clear that, if the Samaritans could be used as a juror helpline, almost half of jurors said they would or might call it to discuss things like how jury service was affecting their lives, how to deal with problems with other jurors, and to ask for information about the legal rules they needed to follow.
Based on this research, a new juror notice was designed and tested with a large number of juries in England and Wales over an eight-month period. This is the document called, “Your legal responsibilities as a Juror”, which I think the committee has a copy of. You will see that this document sets out clearly the two main rules for jurors on discussing cases, and it also includes information on what jurors can do if they feel they need any support as a result of doing jury service.
My research found that this notice dramatically improved jurors' understanding of what they can and cannot do, whom they can talk to about what and when, both during and after the trial. This notice was also widely welcomed by jurors themselves. As a result, a new criminal procedure rule was enacted in England and Wales in July 2017 requiring that this notice be given to each sworn juror by the judge at the start of every jury trial.
Finally, I would like to say something about the need to get the balance right on this issue.
Jury service is an important public service. Governments need to understand the impact of jury service on members of the public to ensure that proper steps are taken to help jurors in need of support, but this should be done and understood in the context of the overwhelmingly positive effects of jury service on the vast majority of members of the public who serve on a jury.
Many members of the public are initially unhappy or reluctant about being summoned for jury service, but in England and Wales, we found that 81% of people who served on a jury said, at the end of their jury service, that they would be happy to serve again if summoned.
There is also some evidence that jury service could have far-reaching, positive effects on civic life in general. There is some research from the United States that shows that jurors who had never voted before were more likely to vote at the next election after they had served on a jury.
The evidence from England and Wales indicates that we should not exclude more people from jury service out of fear of the impact of serving. Instead, we need to find the best ways of ensuring that jurors clearly understand the rules of jury service and can easily access support available to them. This will enable more people to be empowered by jury service and not negatively affected by it.
Thank you, and I'd be happy to answer any questions the committee may have.