The process of empanelling a jury in nineteenth-century England was controlled in most of the country by the County Juries Act 1825. At a formal level, the process was orderly and followed three stages: the preparation of a jury panel from the county jurors’ books, the summoning of the men on the jury panel, and the selection of the trial jury from the panel. In practice, the county sheriffs and undersheriffs were able to exert some influence on the process, an influence that at times ran directly contrary to legislative requirements, and sometimes was even corrupt. Contemporaries complained continually about these informal practices, and their impact upon the perceived quality of the trial juries. This article examines each of the three stages in the jury selection process, including both the legislative requirements and the implementation of those requirements, and it charts the complaints made by contemporaries. The article also attempts to assess some of these complaints by reference to archival materials from the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. Some of these complaints were well-founded, but others – especially the alleged removal from the jurors’ books of men who qualified as special jurors – appear to have been overstated. Nevertheless, the influence of the sheriffs and undersheriffs is clear, and justified or not, the dissatisfaction with the quality of jurors may have contributed to the decline in the use of jury trial over the course of the nineteenth century.

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维多利亚时代英格兰的陪审团选择

19 世纪英格兰的陪审团任命过程在该国大部分地区都受到 1825 年县陪审团法案的控制。在正式层面上，该过程是有序的，并遵循三个阶段：从县陪审员中准备陪审团小组。书籍，召集陪审团成员，以及从陪审团中选择审判陪审团。在实践中，县治安官和副治安官能够对这一过程施加一些影响，这种影响有时直接违反立法要求，有时甚至是腐败的。同时代人不断抱怨这些非正式的做法，以及它们对审判陪审团感知质量的影响。本文研究了陪审团选择过程中的三个阶段，包括立法要求和这些要求的实施情况，并记录了同时代人提出的投诉。本文还试图通过参考格洛斯特郡和威尔特郡的档案材料来评估其中一些投诉。其中一些投诉是有充分根据的，但其他投诉 - 特别是据称从陪审员名册中删除有资格成为特别陪审员的人 - 似乎被夸大了。尽管如此，警长和副警长的影响是显而易见的，无论是否合理，对陪审员素质的不满可能导致了 19 世纪陪审团审判的使用下降。本文还试图通过参考格洛斯特郡和威尔特郡的档案材料来评估其中一些投诉。其中一些投诉是有充分根据的，但其他投诉 - 特别是据称从陪审员名册中删除有资格成为特别陪审员的人 - 似乎被夸大了。尽管如此，警长和副警长的影响是显而易见的，无论是否合理，对陪审员素质的不满可能导致了 19 世纪陪审团审判的使用下降。本文还试图通过参考格洛斯特郡和威尔特郡的档案材料来评估其中一些投诉。其中一些投诉是有充分根据的，但其他投诉 - 特别是据称从陪审员名册中删除有资格成为特别陪审员的人 - 似乎被夸大了。尽管如此，警长和副警长的影响是显而易见的，无论是否合理，对陪审员素质的不满可能导致了 19 世纪陪审团审判的使用下降。