Summary jurisdiction and the decline of the criminal jury in Victorian England
Hanly, Conor
Hanly, Conor
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Publication Date
2021-11-11
Type
journal article
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Citation
Hanly, Conor. (2021). Summary Jurisdiction and the Decline of Criminal Jury Trial in Victorian England. The Journal of Legal History, 42(3), 278-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/01440365.2021.1996032
Abstract
Trial by jury was the standard dispositive mechanism for felony trials in England at the start of the nineteenth century. By the end of the century, the summary courts were dealing with a large number of formerly felony cases. This change came about as a result of the inefficiencies of the jury process, which resulted in a push to expand the jurisdiction of the summary courts. Three statutes – the Juvenile Offenders Act 1847, the Larceny Act 1850, and the Criminal Justice Act 1855 – enacted in the middle of the century transferred jurisdiction to deal with the great majority of larcenies from the courts of Quarter Sessions to the Petty Sessional courts. To enact these statutes, reformers had to overcome considerable opposition. The consequence of the new legislation was to initiate a decline in the use of the criminal jury that continues to this day.
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Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group Routledge
Publisher DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01440365.2021.1996032
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International