S 80- Trial BY JURY ( Compiled) PDF

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TRIAL BY JURY S80: The trial and indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every trial shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes ● Applies to indictable offences only (offences punishable by over two years imprisonment): Kingswell v The Queen (1985) ● Cth offences only (otherwise a waiver of jury trial and majority verdicts would be illegal): Brown v The Queen (1986) ○ Doesn’t apply to territories: R v Brenasoni (1915) ○ Doesn’t apply to States: Byrne v The Queen (1999) ○ Doesn’t apply to Court Martial: Re Tyler & Ors; Ex parte Foley (1994)  Trial on Indictment ● The Commonwealth retains legislative discretion to determine whether Federal offences are to be tried summarily or on indictment: Cheng v The Queen (2000); R v Archdall (1928) This means that what constitutes an indictable offence is purely up to the Parliament ○ McHugh J Cheng v The Queen (2000) 203 CLR 248 at 292: “The words of s 80 were deliberately and carefully chosen to give the Parliament the capacity to avoid trial by jury when it wished to do so”.  ● Can’t be waived- The right to trial by jury cannot be waived by the accused, thus it should not be considered a ‘right’: Brown v The Queen  ● Unanimous Verdict – where the guarantee was applicable, s 80 required a unanimous verdict of guilty by jurors in order for a conviction to stand. ○ Jury must also be selected randomly & impartially: Katsumo v The Queen (1999) ○ Jury unanimity is a requirement of all Cth offences: Cheatle v The Queen (1993) Number of Jurors Brownlee v R (2001) F: Originally a jury of 12, during the trial 2 was discharged and under State law a jury with a minimum of 10 members were permitted to give a verdict. This procedure did not violate s 80 ● Gaudron, Gummow & Hayne JJ – based on historical considerations, strongly arguable that a reduction below 10 would violate s 80, but reduction to 10 was permissible  

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