Bill: Rejected Juries Act

[End]

A
BILL
To

Ensure Fairness in Corruption Trials and amend the Judicial Standards Act

The people of Democracy Craft, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Juries Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by: Speaker. xEndeavour, Hugebob
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by: Sen. Lildigivert

2 - Reasons
(1) Corruption charges should see members of our nation judged by their peers from a cross section of the community.

3 - Establishment
(1) Jury duty will be established in all cases of corruption.
(2) The Jury is responsible for deciding guilt.

4 - Process
(1) Closing Statements
(2) Juror Selection
(3) Case Review
(4) Verdict Voting
(5) Sentencing Voting

5 - Selection
(1) The prosecution and defence will provide a list of up to 20 individuals which they object to serving on the Jury and their reasoning. The Court Clerk will remove these individuals from the potential jury pool.
(2) A panel of 7 Jurors will be selected at random from the voters in the most recent congressional election by the Court Clerk.
(a) The Dept. of State will be required to provide the Court Clerk with a list of voters (less disqualified voters) upon request for the purposes of official duties only.
(b) The Court Clerk will verify that the provided names match the total number of non-disqualified voters in the last congressional election.
(3) The Jurors will be selected and individually notified after the closing statements in the Court Case.
(4) In the event that any of the Jurors notified are unable to attend jury duty for any reason, replacement Jurors shall be selected from the remaining jury pool.

6 - Jury Integrity
(1) The jury members shall be kept secret from both the Plaintiff, the Defendant, and the Court (less the court clerk) for the entire duration of the lawsuit and after the conclusion of the lawsuit. Individual jurors may choose to make themselves known after the verdict is delivered if they wish.
(2) The final vote tally of the jury shall remain classified permanently. Individual jurors may choose to share how they voted (after the verdict has been delivered) if they wish, however they also may lie in public about their vote for their own protection.

7 - Reaching a Verdict
(1) The jury shall be granted 48 hours after the jury has been assembled in a private group with the court clerk to review the details of the case. The jury can end this review period early with the approval of a simple majority of the jury.
(2) After the review process has been completed, the jury shall have 48 hours to debate the merits of the case to aid in their decision making process. The jury can end this debate period early with the approval of a simple majority of the jury.
(3) After the debate process has been completed, the jury shall vote on whether they believe the Defendant should be found 'guilty' or 'not guilty.' Jurors may cast an abstention vote for the first round of voting if they wish to deliberate further. Voting shall end when a majority has been reached, when a majority can no longer be reached due to abstentions, or after 48 hours has elapsed. Any person who fails to vote during this time shall be assumed to have cast a vote of 'abstain.'

a. If the jury votes by simple majority in favour of a 'guilty' verdict, the presiding Judge/Justice shall be notified and the presiding Judge/Justice shall send a sentencing recommendation to the jury for review. From here we move on to step 4.​

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b. If the jury votes by simple majority in favour of a 'not guilty' verdict, the presiding Judge/Justice shall be notified and the jury shall be disbanded. The process ends here.​

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c. If the jury does not vote by simple majority in favour of either outcome, the jury shall enter a second round of debate for a period of at least 24 hours and at most 48 hours which can be ended early by a simple majority of the jury after the minimum time has elapsed. Once this second round of debate has concluded, a second vote shall be held for a period of 24 hours without the option to abstain. In this round any person who fails to vote is assumed to have voted 'not guilty.'​

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(4) In the event of a 'guilty' verdict, the jury will examine the sentencing recommendations from both the Plaintiff and the presiding Judge/Justice and determine an appropriate sentence with the approval of a simple majority of the jury. The jury can issue a sentence which matches the presiding Judge/Justice’s recommendation, the Plaintiff’s recommendation, or neither, with the only requirement being that the jury may not issue a sentence that exceeds the maximum or minimum allowable under the law. In the event that the jury issues an unlawful sentence or fails to vote by simple majority in favour of any sentence within 48 hours, the sentencing recommendation the Judge/Justice issued to the jury shall be the final sentencing.

8 - Compromised Juries
(1) If a Jury has been compromised - any member of the jury is revealed or there is evidence that suggests that a juror has been persuaded or interfered with - any party can motion to expel the juror or motion to dissolve the jury where necessary.
(2) Compromising a Jury
Revealing a one's self or member of the Jury in an ongoing case, discussing matters before the Jury with anyone outside of the jury in an ongoing case, or Jurors investigating beyond the evidence provided to them in court.
Per Offence: Up to a $50,000 fine
(3) All jurors must be made aware of their duties and obligations by the court clerk after being selected.
(4) If a jury is found to have been compromised, the defence will have the option of an immediate re-trial, including a summary re-trial where a new jury is selected and immediately goes to deliberating a verdict.