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8. General principles of the Jury
 
  Article 47-The responsibility of Jury  
47.1 The responsibility of Jury  
  The following are the nine (10) core responsibilities of any and all juries (civil or criminal).  
  1. To honor the code of secrecy and duty to which I (a juror) have sworn  
  That in so being sworn into a jury, the jury members themselves shall duly swear to each other and to the institution of common justice of Asia Union to honor the code of secrecy and duty of being a member of the jury.  
  That nothing regarding what has been written, or spoken between jurors shall ever be communicated to any other person, before, during or after the trial. That should a juror ever breach this code of honor, they shall automatically be in contempt of justice at the penalty level set for the case for which they heard.  
  2. To honor justice by being impartial and not be influenced by other opinions and hearsay  
  Justice depends upon all juries being independent, free from influence, intimidation whether direct through offers of bribes, or threats and indirect through media opinion, journalists, friends and relatives.  
  3. To elect a foreman to speak on behalf of the whole jury  
  To elect a foreman through secret ballot, by writing the name of the prefered person as soon as possible after introductions in the jury room, folding it so that it cannot be immediately read and handing the folded pieces of the paper to the attendant/bailiff who will then announce the foreman based on the person with the most number of votes.  
  If an equal number of votes are cast, then the tied candidates for foreman shall be the only candidates names permitted for the second ballot. If votes are again tied, then the process shall be repeated until a foreman is elected.  
  4. To understand the primary facts of the case  
  Before any evidence is submitted, each offence under both the Criminal Code and Civil Code is based on a system of primary facts. These are the minimum facts that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty verdict to be permitted.  
  Regardless of the evidence, if these primary facts are not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then the accused must be acquited. If these facts are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then a guilt verdict is just.  
  Therefore, the primary facts are the backbone of the case- they are the benchmark by which each testimony and each piece of evidence must be weighed.  
  5. To be impartial and objective to all evidence and testimony presented  
  An accused person may be a terrible human being, but this does not automatically make them guilty. An accused person may look like an angel, but this does not mean they have been framed.  
  The jury must look to the primary facts as the compass and guide and remain objective and impartial to all evidence and testimony.  
  As shocking as some evidence may be, as terrible as some cases may appear, only an objective and impartial jury can truly dispense a wise and just verdict based on objective evidence against the primary facts.  
  6. To listen carefully to the instruction of the judge and to ignore all items deemed inadmissible and/or improper  
  A jury must listen carefully to the judge and to ignore all items deemed inadmissible, no matter how influential the initial item might have appeared.  
  A jury may only deliberate their verdict on the accepted and admissible facts of court to the instruction given by the judge on such evidence.  
  7. To read the transcripts and seek to understand the evidence presented before them  
  To be diligent after each court session and during each break to read the available transcripts and evidence profiles to understand/recall the evidence presented to the jury.  
  8. To refrain completely and avoid all hint of self-discovery, evidence and theory testing  
  While it may be extremely tempting for a jury or individuals of jury to undertake their own research, particularly in the face of poorly presented evidence, it is not the role of the jury to investigate, nor test theories of evidence.  
  The role of the jury is to weigh the merit and validity of evidence against the key primary facts of the case. If evidence supports one side or the other and is deemed credible, this is sufficient.  
  A member of the jury who defies this rule and seeks to self-investigate may be found guilty of contempt.  
  9. To deliver a verdict  
  The final and most important responsibility of the jury at the end of a case is to deliver a verdict.  
  Under this Code, up to three (3) jury members may dissent from the prevailing vote of the jury and the verdict still stands as valid. Furthermore, a jury is permitted up to seven (7) days to consider their verdict, based on the comparing the evidence to the primary facts.  
  Where a jury has been unable to reach a majority verdict for longer than seven (7) days, the foreman of the jury is required to apply the the Judge for a special application for simple majority release. The Judge is then able to determine one of two positions (1) to grant the simple majority release, or (2) to reject the application through lack of proper care to the case by the jury and find the jury in contempt, in which case the jury will be disbanded, charged and a new trial called.  
  Where a simple majority release is granted, a verdict involving a maximum of five (5) dissenting votes but seven (7) majority votes will be carried as a jury verdict.  
  Where a judge has granted a simple majority application and the jury has still not reached a simple majority verdict in ten (10) days, the jury shall automatically be disbanded, charged with contempt and a new trial called.  
     
 
 

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