tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855066.post7454894931148712885..comments2023-09-20T13:32:30.933+01:00Comments on Scottish Law Reporter: Scots courts face jury number revamp as justice system gets much needed reformsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855066.post-32151834538538255452009-01-19T14:21:00.000+00:002009-01-19T14:21:00.000+00:00It's sensible to question how absolutely anything ...It's sensible to question how absolutely anything is done now and again to avoid following it out of tradition and nothing else. I think it's always awkward when juries are hung though - I think that 10-2 is still showing reasonable doubt unless you happen to know that the two dissenters aren't reasonable (and why are they on a jury?) and so that's still a vaguely unsatisfying conviction / acquittal.<BR/><BR/>It's pragmatism that makes people accept the reality that juries aren't always unanimous rather than a sense that fewer dissenting jurors is "more" just, if you want true beyond all reasonable doubt then not one juror can finish the case with doubts. It's always a trade off. It's well worth considering the issue though and I applaud that - committees of lay people who are randomly picked and routinely put people in jail in a power that needs watched. <BR/><BR/>Ideally every case should be so clearly stacked in the favour of the truth that there can be no question as to what the jury decides but that doesn't always happen.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180325668437665385noreply@blogger.com