Introduction
Professional jurors are individuals who have proficient qualifications in the field of law and who can make legal decisions or findings of fact that can be applied to a case by a judge. The professional juror is charged with the responsibility of making decisions regarding a case. The court can use a professional juror to give his or her trial concerning an issue instead of using the jury panel in the courts. Courts are today adopting the system of hiring professional jurors instead of relying on the jury panel that is composed of several judges. Professional jurors are hired and paid for the cases they give trials. There have been many controversies regarding the use of professional jurors to give trials on different cases. Professional jurors take a shorter time in giving their trials because the juror does not need to make consultations. There are certain types of cases that a professional juror would be more efficient in than the jury panel which includes many judges making a decision. The professional juror’s history should be checked to ensure that a fair and unbiased juror is hired. This is likely to lead to a fair trial in any issue. This paper will seek to analyze the controversies surrounding professional jurors.
The neutralityty of Professional Jurors
A professional juror is likely to give a more neutral decision than a panel of several jurors (Frost 159). This is basically because he or she has all the facts required to use in making a trial. He or she has to put all his/her interests apart when dealing with cases. For one to qualify as a professional juror, he/she must have proved to be independent of dictates from others, their opinions, and biases. If he/she makes a wrong decision or misleads a court while giving a statement, he/she should be solely blamed and punished for the mistake. This is likely to influence the professional juror to give neutral decisions on any issues. On the other hand, a biased decision is likely to lead to an appeal by the party that feels that a decision has been made in favor of their opponent. If there is enough proof that the professional juror has been biased, then the juror is likely to lose his dignity in the profession. Consequently, to avoid conflicts over trials, a professional juror is likely to be very neutral in all his/her decisions concerning a case.
Given the opportunity to give a trial, professional jurors must give neutral decisions in order to be given the same responsibility in the future. These individuals are aware that being biased can risk their careers in the future. Equally, if he or she is neutral to all the parties involved in a case, he or she is likely to give an unbiased judgment in a case. Future hiring by other courts largely depends on his or her neutrality in the current cases (McNichols 7). Many courts are likely to hire a professional juror who is known to be neutral. Contrary, a professional juror who is known to be biased will not get hired because courts will be convinced that the professional juror cannot give a neutral decision and is therefore corrupt. Being aware of all these factors, professional jurors are likely to be neutral in all their decisions and can only give biased decisions at their own risk. Contrary, in a system where a panel of jurors sits down to agree on a decision, they can decide to be biased and no individual can be held responsible. This is because; the decision is seen as an agreement amongst all the jurors. After all, the decision-making process is secret and it is only the members who know how they agree on a given issue (Politics New Zealand 4). In jury systems where individuals are permanently employed for making decisions, business is likely to be encountered because the individuals are not worried about job security.
Pre-vetted for Neutrality
Before a court hires a professional juror, it is necessary to perform a background check about the individual (Twynihoe 131). This can be done on the basis of previous cases that the professional has given trials. An individual who has been neutral in previous cases is also likely to be neutral in other cases. Ifhas individual have had cases of biasness in the past, the court will just neglect him or her. At the end of the day, the most neutral professional jurors will be granted the opportunity. The juror should be in a position to present the judge with a decision that is unbiased regarding a case in hand. In general, looking at the previous records of a professional juror would be useful for a court while selecting a professional who will provide an unbiased decision on different trials.
Less Time Spent
When a court uses a professional juror in providing decisions to cases in the court, less time is likely to be spent in coming up with the decisions (Robertson 38). A panel of jurors will engage in numerous arguments before coming to an agreement. The judge cannot make his decision until all the members in the panel come to a consensus. If one of the individuals in the panel is biased to one party regarding a case, he or she is likely to argue in favor of the party and would do all he or she can to ensure that the decision comes in favor of the party. This wastes a lot of time. Some hearings have been previously postponed in courts because the jurors that form the panel cannot come to an agreement about the issue at hand. On the other hand, a professional juror, only needs to have the facts at hand to make a final decision. His verdict comes immediately the facts in the case are detected. Giving instructions to a single professional is also easier than instructing several individuals. The judge will have an easy time in instructing the professional juror and this will help save time.
Cheaper Method
Professional jurors can be hired and paid just like the court hires and pays other individuals who serve the court (Stana 49). The only difference between a professional juror and another person in the court is that the professional juror is hired for specific cases while the others could be permanent employees of the courts. A professional juror is believed to be a qualified individual with all the knowledge that is required in making different trials. Hiring a professional juror is likely to be cheaper than having a panel of several jurors in the court. Other individuals in the jury system could be paid less than the professional juror but the sum of money that each individual in the panel could acquire is much more than this. A professional juror is likely to perform a better job at a lower price than a panel of twelve individuals performing the same task.
Quality Work
The work done by a professional juror is likely to be of higher quality than the work done by any other employee in an organization (McMahon 200). The professional juror will most likely be working to prove his or her professionalism. On the centrally, individuals in the panel are likely to work to fulfill their duty avoiding too much commitment. This may end up producing biased or unprofessional decisions hurting innocent individuals in the cases. Quality work on the part of the professional juror creates more opportunities and markets the work of the professional. In the process of creating a good name, the professional juror does quality work and gives viable decisions.
The professional jurors are independent. This means that their decisions cannot be affected by others (Knapp 5). Stronger personalities have a tendency to overrule jurors who are timid. The professional juror looks at all parties in a case in a neutral way and there is no one individual who has a higher personality than the other. The verdict of a professional juror will depend on the facts at hand and not the parties in the case. This will help in protecting the minority from being persecuted by their superiors. They also help the laws to be applied as per the requirements. This is because a judge in a court that hires a professional juror must apply the decisions that are given by the professional regardless of any personal interests in a case. Failure to implement the decision might lead to appeals and hence unraveling the truth to the public.
Conclusion
Professional jurors have the qualifications to make sound verdicts that can be applied by judges in court cases. They are likely to be neutral in order to retain their professionalism and dignity. A professional who makes biased decisions loses trust and employment opportunities in the future. His decisions are individual and any business would squarely place the blame on him. A court should perform a background check before hiring a professional juror so that it can hire the best. The time spent in coming up with a decision is less when a professional juror is involved. This is basically because there will be no arguments and judges are likely to spend less time while instructing the professional. Moreover, hiring one professional juror is cheaper than having a panel of several jurors each earning less than the professional juror. The quality of work that the professional juror will do is also likely to be of a higher quality than work done by the panel of jurors.
References
Frost, Richard. H. The Mooney Case. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999, 158- 159
Knapp, Alex. Professionalize the Jury System, 2009. Web.
McMahon, Rory. J. Practical Handbook for Professional Investigators. London: CRC Press, 2007, 200.
McNichols, Steve, Some Thoughts of the Jury System, 2000, Web.
Politics New Zealand, Professional Juries are better than the Current System of Peers. 2002. Web.
Robertson, Cliff, Wa,llace, Harvey and Stuckey, Gilbert. B. Procedures in the Justice System, 9th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008.
Stana, Richard. M. Follow-Up Information on the Operations of the Department of Justice. New York: Diane Publishing, 2001, 48-50.
Twynihoe, William. E. The Jury Laws and their Amendment. London: McMillan Publishers, 2001, 131