The bastard verdict and its influence on jurors

Lee J. Curley*, Rory MacLean, Jennifer Murray, Phyllis Laybourn, David Brown

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Scottish legal system is a unique jurisdiction, as jurors are able to give not proven verdicts in addition to the well-known Anglo-American verdicts (guilty and not guilty). The not proven verdict has never been legally defined, meaning that currently legal practitioners can only estimate why a not proven verdict has been given. The main aim of this study was to investigate if jurors violate the regularity principle, which is commonly incorporated in many rational choice models, by testing if the introduction of the not proven verdict has an impact on the outcomes given by jurors. In addition, this study aimed to test if the introduction of the not proven verdict has an impact upon how the not guilty verdict is perceived by jurors. In this study, 128 participants listened to two vignettes centred on homicide trials. Jurors could give one of two verdicts in one of the vignettes and one of three verdicts in the other vignette. The vignettes were counterbalanced in regard to how many verdicts could be given at the end of them. It was found that jurors in a three-verdict system were less likely to give a not guilty verdict in comparison to jurors in a two-verdict system, showing that jurors violate the regularity principle and that the not proven verdict may change how the not guilty verdict is perceived. The findings of this research have implications in relation to juror communication, article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and juror rationality.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-35
Number of pages10
JournalMedicine, Science and the Law
Volume59
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • human rights
  • Law
  • not proven verdict
  • psychology
  • rational decision making

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Issues, ethics and legal aspects
  • Health Policy
  • Law

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