Thisessay will explain how Jury trials and Sentencing of the Criminal JusticeSystem process adhere to due process values.Dueprocess is the conduct of legal procedures which are established to ensure thatthere is a fair trial for every defendant. Since infallibility cannot beensured on the courts judgements, the legal system intends to warrant anotherachievable option that is second best.
The implementation of due processensures that no defendant is sentenced without an adequate and systematic procedurewhich is to be used consistently in all cases. Under due process, alldefendants receive a notification in advance for trial, and an opportunity tobe present, be heard, and defend themselves. This also incorporates legalcounsel, cross examination and confront witnesses, decline self-implicatingtestimony as well as have a crime proven by evidence beyond reasonable doubt.Opposingto the due process model, there is the crime control model which, Packer 1968,established to attempt to deal with weak criminal cases as quickly as possible.This model is described as prioritising convictions of individuals who may havecommitted an offence or not. It is focused on sentencing even if it means that thereis a chance that an innocent person may be sentenced to achieve the goal.
Jurytrials are seen as to adhere to due process as it allows public participationin the case, jurors act as a barrier between law enforcement and laws as wellas not being persuaded by professional bias. Juriesare randomly selected through a register and are summoned to attend court on specificdates. In 2001, circumstances in which people could avoid jury duties were restricted,moreover The Criminal Justice Act 2003, terminated the idea of any excuses ofavoiding jury duties with the exception of serving military personnel. In trials95% of criminal cases are heard in Magistrates Courts, however, only around 5%of the cases may need a jury. Once cases are at verdict stage, juries have tocome to a conclusion as to whether they believe the defendant is guilty orinnocent by vote.
Juriesare excused from trials in Crown Court by The Criminal Justice Act 2003, asthey are deemed to be complex and burdensome. (NEWBURN, 2017) TheCriminal Defence service was set to give free legal advice as well asrepresentation, which is accessible in four areas in England and Wales. Theirrole is to ensure that defendant’s rights are protected and that procedures arefollowed according to law. Dueprocess is then an important component of the criminal justice system by posinga challenge to the prosecution by defence solicitors.Theprosecution is required to prove the defendant’s guilt in a trial processagainst the defence for an adversarial system.
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Both defence and prosecutionwill be required to produce evidence, prepare and present it in a court infront of a judge. It is the Judge who then ensures that procedures arecorrectly followed, listens to the evidence presented, then summarises thefacts of the case to the jury and reminds them of the laws which are pertinentto the trial. A judge in the adversarial system does not question or probefurther than what is presented by the opposing legal teams as his role is to bean impartial referee. Aswell as jury trials adhering to due process, it is believed to have benefits,these include; juries being a barrier between the implementation of dislikedlaws, allows public participation, juries discuss the legality on the criminaljustice process, they’re not persuaded by professional preconception and they’reseen as democratic.However,not everyone sees this to be true.
Some disagree with the idea of juries asthey believe that they’re unrepresentative, juries are believed to not have enoughknowledge of the law, are unable to cope with complex cases and believe thatdecisions that juries make can be either based on rhetoric speech rather thanfacts or fellow jurors could be dominating. (NEWBURN, 2017)
