It’s ironic that the burgeoning interest in randomly selected policy juries (citizens’ assemblies, deliberative polls etc) coincides with a proposal to seriously curtail the use of trial juries in the UK — a practice that dates back to Magna Carta (1215). Justice Secretary David Lammy (an alumnus of Harvard Law School) had previously defended trial by jury, arguing that by deliberating ‘through open discussion’ juries expose ‘prejudice or unintended bias’, since ‘judgements must be justified to others’.
Hélène Landemore used the example of the Hollywood movie 12 Angry Men (women were excluded from trial juries in some US states until 1968) to illustrate her argument for the epistemic value of diversity in her 2013 book, Democratic Reason. But it would appear that the Justice Secretary has changed his mind.
The Journal of Sortition is keen to publish an article defending the principle of trial by jury, and would welcome submissions on this topic. Submissions should be sent by email to Anna-Lena Konder (anna@imprint.co.uk).
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