Decline of the “little Parliament”: Juries and Jury Reform in England and Wales

INTRODUCTION The English jury evokes passionate and often extreme views. On the one hand, trial by jury is vigorously defended as an ancient right, a bastion of liberty, and a means whereby the ordinary person’s common sense views can inform decisions and contain the powers of government. On the other hand, the jury is regarded much more cynically as a costly, sometimes incompetent anachronism that merely creates opportunities for exploitation by “professional” criminals at great public expense. This century in England, the second of these views appears to have gained ground. The scope and powers of the English jury have markedly declined, and jury trials are increasingly seen as excessively expensive and time consuming. Juries have all but disappeared in civil cases, and their use in criminal cases is continually threatened by sustained