This book proposes using a ‘jury-centric approach’ for improving laws, practices, and procedures in jury trials. Courts assume that jurors in a criminal trial understand and apply the judge’s directions about the law. This assumption is based on jury verdicts and the courts’ observations of jurors and inferences about juror comprehension. Research reveals that the courts’ assumption about juror comprehension is fundamentally flawed. Addressing this problem is essential for fair trials. A jury-centric approach is evidence-informed and works within a fair trial framework. It asks what jurors need to understand the issues that they must determine. It also examines juror comprehension research and why judges and lawyers have often been sceptical about this research. The book illustrates and evaluates a jury-centric approach through three case studies involving structured decision-making aids, homicide laws, and misconceptions in sexual offence cases. The book proposes establishing an interdisciplinary Juries Advisory Council, drawing on judicial and legal expertise as well as expertise in jury research. The jury’s task is increasingly complicated. Reform is essential to help jurors understand their task and determine the issues on their legal and factual merits. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers, policy-makers and students in the areas of Criminal Law, Courts, Human Rights Law, Psycholinguistics and Organisational Psychology, and to judges and lawyers.

Greg Byrne is an experienced criminal law policy adviser. He has led many significant criminal law reforms in Victoria, Australia, over the past 25 years. His research and publication interests focus primarily on juries, sexual offences, victims of crime, and criminal law reform.