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Quiz about Lay People English Legal System
Quiz about Lay People English Legal System

Lay People: English Legal System Quiz


I am a law student and this was the first unit that I studied at college. I hope you enjoy playing the quiz as much as I enjoyed studying this topic and making this quiz.

A multiple-choice quiz by michelle_4_eva. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
201,196
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
601
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Question 1 of 10
1. What are the age limits for a juror? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What qualifications does a magistrate need? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What are the age limits for a magistrate? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. How are jurors appointed? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. How many jurors are needed for a trial in the Crown Court? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. How many magistrates sit on a panel (or bench) in court? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What is the maximum jail sentence that a magistrate can impose on a defendent for a single offence? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. How long has a jury got to have been deliberating for before they can come to a majority decision? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which Act of Parliament abolished the excused and disqualified people from jury service? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Whom can the jury ask for help if they are struggling to understand legal matters while sitting in court? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What are the age limits for a juror?

Answer: 18 to 70

Jurors must be between the ages of 18 and 70 upon appointment.
2. What qualifications does a magistrate need?

Answer: No legal qualifications

The term 'lay' means 'not legally qualified' and a magistrate is a lay person.

Every magistrate has to sit for at least 12 half days a year. As well as this, the magistrates must be available for all of the training that they will receive before going into court.

In all the larger English cities there are also paid magistrates, called 'stipendiary magistrates'. These are all qualified lawyers (solicitors). If there is a large number of cases or if a backlog has developed, junior county court judges (deputy recorders) may also act as magistrates.
3. What are the age limits for a magistrate?

Answer: 18 to 70

Magistrates must be between the ages of 18 and 65 upon initial appointment, but do not have to retire until 70.
4. How are jurors appointed?

Answer: They are randomly selected from the electoral register

So that the courts can't be accused of bias when choosing jurors, a panel of jurors is randomly selected from the electoral register, and the jury is chosen at random from the panel. At this point, both the defence and the prosecution may object to individual jurors. If necessary, a juror may be replaced by another member of the panel, again chosen at random.
5. How many jurors are needed for a trial in the Crown Court?

Answer: 12

Twelve jurors are used in the Crown Court and five jurors are used in the Coroner's Court.

Often as many as thirty jurors that are summoned to court for the commencement of most trials. They form the 'panel', from which the actual jury is selected. The prosecution and defence can eliminate jury members until they get the number of jurors that they need.
6. How many magistrates sit on a panel (or bench) in court?

Answer: 3

Lay magistrates sit as a panel of three, of whom one acts as the Chairman of the Bench. They can call on the Clerk to the Court, who is a qualified lawyer, for advice. Stipendiary (that is, paid and legally qualified) magistates sit alone.
7. What is the maximum jail sentence that a magistrate can impose on a defendent for a single offence?

Answer: 6 months

A magistrate can send a defendant to jail for a maximum of six months for a single offence, and twelve months for two or more offences. If a Magistrates' Court decides that a higher sentence is appropriate it can send an offender to the Crown Court for sentencing.
8. How long has a jury got to have been deliberating for before they can come to a majority decision?

Answer: 2 hours

A jury can only come to a majority decision if they have been deliberating for more than 2 hours. The majority decisions are 11:1 or 10:2. The majority vote can't go below 10:2. Moreover, juries must try to reach a unanimous verdict before having recourse to a majority verdict.
9. Which Act of Parliament abolished the excused and disqualified people from jury service?

Answer: Criminal Justice Act 2003

Following the Criminal Justices Act 2003, there are no longer people who are excused and disqualified from jury duty. This means that even police officers, medical practitioners and students can now be jurors. The only people who can't be jurors are mentally ill people (current or previous sufferers) and people on bail.
10. Whom can the jury ask for help if they are struggling to understand legal matters while sitting in court?

Answer: Judge

The Clerk to the Court is legally qualified for many things, but all requests are handed through them to the presiding judge.
Source: Author michelle_4_eva

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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