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Practice dictation & shadowing on the daily life story: The History of Trial By July
The History of Trial By July
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(1)
The history of Trial by Jury
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In most English speaking countries, a person who is accused of a crime has the right to a trial by jury.
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In a trial by jury, the guilt or innocence of the accused person is decided by a group of 12 people called jurors, who must listen to the evidence about the case.
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The idea of a trial by jury is over 800 years old, but there was a time when criminal cases were decided in other ways.
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Today, many of these methods seem ridiculous and cruel.
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Many accused people were forced to undergo a trial by ordeal.
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There were several different kinds of this trial.
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For example, in the ordeal by fire, an accused man was forced to carry a red hot piece of iron in his hand.
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People believed that if the man were innocent, then the gods would protect him and his hand would not be burned or blistered by the iron.
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Another form of the trial by ordeal was the ordeal by combat.
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If one person accused another of a crime, they would be forced to fight each other with some weapon.
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People believed that the gods would help the man who was right and allow him to win the fight.
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Yet another kind of ordeal was the ordeal by water.
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If a woman was accused of a crime, such as witchcraft, she might be thrown into a river with rocks attached to her.
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People believed that the gods would help an innocent woman and allow her to float on the water.
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Gradually, people realized that the trial by ordeal was a completely worthless way to judge a person's innocence or guilt.
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They wanted a less barbaric way to decide criminal cases.
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During the 12th century, a new method was introduced by one of the kings of England, Henry the second.
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Henry said that criminal cases should be decided by the opinions of 12 honest men who knew about the crime, the victim and the accused person.
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This was the beginning of trial by jury in English speaking countries and the method soon became very popular.
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People trusted this new method much more than they trusted the old methods.
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Later, the system of trial by jury changed somewhat.
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Instead of having a jury of 12 men and women who knew about the crime, juries were chosen so that the 12 people did not know anything about the crime.
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This change ensures that the jurors do not have any bias or prejudice about the case.
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When jurors do not know any of the people involved in the case, their decisions are more likely to be fair and accurate.
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Today, citizens in many countries are called occasionally for jury duty.
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This can be inconvenient for people who are busy with their work and family life.
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However, many men and women are willing to serve on juries because of a feeling of responsibility to society.
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The use of juries in criminal cases helps to ensure that justice is done.