Presumed competent? : an analysis of the Irish criminal jury

Abstract

This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of the Irish criminal jury in its legal and social context. It investigates whether the judiciary effectively applies a presumption of competence to the jury. It argues that such a presumption is applied by judges in Ireland and in England and Wales and demonstrates this by analysing case-law from both jurisdictions. While something akin to the presumption has been referred to by a small number of commentators, this is the first study which attempts to establish its existence by identifying and analysing it systematically. The thesis employs a number of different research methodologies. Its primary method is that of doctrinal legal analysis. The reasoning in judgments concerned with particular aspects of jury trial is analysed and critiqued. Reported judgments provide the best material with which to determine the existence, application and effect of the presumption of competence at a judicial level. The research entailed searching for traces of the application of the presumption in the absence of explicit references to it by judges.