The Role Of Citizens In The Court System

Why is jury duty a responsibility of Australian citizenship?

• To assist in making the court system as fair as possible major trials require 12 to 18 citizens to attend as jurors. Their job is to decide, from the evidence presented, if a person is innocent or guilty. Discuss why the jury system helps to ensure that trials are fair.
• Using the WA government website, students watch the 15 minute video A Fair Trial. Students make notes on how the process is made as fair as possible for both jurors and the accused. Refer to the list of Trial by Jury positives and negatives to ascertain whether there are processes to negate any of the concerns. Students then use their notes to create an information pamphlet that could be given to citizens who are attending jury duty for the first time.  Or..
• Using the Supreme Court of Victoria resource, students watch the mock trial video, One Punch, a Lifetime of Consequences. Students make notes on how the process is made as fair as possible for both jurors and the accused. Referring to the Australian Law Reform Commission website, students identify the key attributes of a fair trial to ascertain whether there are processes to negate any of the concerns. Students then use their notes to create an information pamphlet that could be given to citizens who are attending jury duty for the first
• Discuss how the ‘safety net ‘of the jury process may encourage more citizens to provide information about crimes to Crime Stoppers?

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