A Trying Question: The Jury in Nineteenth Century Canada
by R. Blake Brown, Professor of History, St Mary's University
Published for the Osgoode Society by the University of Toronto Press.
Cost: $50.00
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Description
The jury has long been a central institution of both the trial
process in particular and of the ideology of the common law in
general, a body exemplifying the distinctiveness of our legal
tradition. In this first book-length study devoted to the history of
the jury in Canada, Brown shows that it was also often controversial,
and much of what he recounts will perhaps surprise the modern reader.
The jury could be used for political ends when the authorities sought
to 'pack' juries to achieve the verdicts they wanted in high-profile
cases. At other times it was seen simply as a nuisance for those
required to serve, an unwanted distraction from everyday economic
activities. With the growth of professionalism it also came to be
seen as an ineffective and amateurish body that ought to be
supplanted by men trained to sift through the evidence and come to
the right conclusions. This book is a fascinating account of the
history of a key legal institution.
Reviews
Canadian legal historians ... have good reason to be grateful to R. Blake Brown.... A Trying Question will soon be one of the most cited works of legal history in this country, and for good reason. Brown has done an exemplary job of detailing the change in jury structure in the two jurisdictions he examines [Ontario and Nova Scotia].... Brown's primary purpose is to examine the political reasons behind the changes to the jury in both its forms, the trial ... jury, ... and the grand jury, which is no more in Canada ... and which once was a mainstay of both the prosecution process and local governance. Mary Stokes, Dalhousie Law Journal, vol 32, 2009.
A very solid addition to the field of Canadian legal history. This is the first ... study of juries in Canada. It makes excellent use of archival sources and contemporary newspaper accounts....[O]f value not only to those interested in legal history, but also to students of Canadian history more broadly. Jonathan Davidson, Canadian Law Library Review, vol 35, 2010.
A welcome addition to ... Canadian legal history. Michael Boudreau, Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol 13, 2010
A detailed and perceptive explanation of the intellectual, geographical and political reasons for the decline of the jury.... A Trying Question should be required reading for anyone interested in the historical administration of justice. Lori Chambers, Ontario History, vol 102, 2010.
