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.
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