[Infowarrior] - UK judge: web users make bad jurors

[Richard Forno]

Web-savvy young make bad jurors because they cannot listen, says Lord  
Chief Justice

Young people brought up with the internet are not used to listening  
for long periods and would not make good jurors, according to the most  
senior judge in England and Wales.

By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 6:51AM GMT 07 Nov 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3393061/Web-savvy-young-make-bad-jurors-because-they-cannot-listen-says-Lord-Chief-Justice.html

In a speech, Lord Judge of Draycote, the Lord Chief Justice, said it  
might be better to present information for young jurors on screens  
because that is how they were used to digesting information.

He said: "Most are technologically proficient. Many get much  
information from the internet. They consult and refer to it. They are  
not listening. They are reading. "One potential problem is whether,  
learning as they do in this way, they will be accustomed, as we were,  
to listening for prolonged periods.

"Even if they have the ability to endure hours and days of sitting  
listening, how long would it be before some ask for the information on  
which they have to make their decision to be provided in forms which  
adapt to modern technology?

He said: "Our system of jury trials depends on 12 good men and women  
and true coming to court and listening to the case. Orality is the  
crucial ingredient of the adversarial system.

"Witnesses speak and answer questions. Counsel speak and address the  
jury. Judges speak and give directions."

Currently information is provided on screens to jurors, such as in  
complex fraud trials, but "not without difficulty and with great  
expense", he said.

He added: "What about the defendant's oral testimony and child witness  
complaining of an indecent assault which the defendant adamantly denies?

"What process aimed at finding the truth between them, and enabling a  
jury to decide where the truth lies, will be in place in 25 years  
time? What will happen to our oral tradition? Should it, will it, be  
forced to change?"

Lord Judge also conceded that it was inevitable some jurors defy a  
judge's direction and make "private enquiries" into a case using the  
internet.

In one case a juror went online using a Blackberry-device during a  
rape case, causing the conviction to be quashed.

Lord Judge said that he did not have solutions to these concerns. But  
he suggested that in the future the courts system must be "capable of  
development and adaptable for the future".

Lord Judge, who took over as Lord Chief Justice last month, also  
warned this week that criminals should be "frightened'' of going to  
court, signalling a stricter attitude towards sentencing.