Word of the Week - Monday 25th April 2011

Monday 25^th April 2011 – Jury

This week’s Word of the Week is ‘Jury’...

“A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgement. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to judge whether an accused person is not guilty or guilty of a crime. (There is no such verdict as "innocent"). They are composed of jurors, who are by definition layman finders of fact, not professionals.

The old institution of grand juries, which are now rare, still exist in some places, particularly the United States, to investigate whether enough evidence of a crime exists to bring someone to trial.

The jury arrangement has evolved out of the earliest juries, which were found in early medieval England. Members were supposed to inform themselves of crimes and then of the details of the crimes. Their function was therefore closer to that of a grand jury than that of a jury in a trial.”

-- Wikipedia

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