EP. 162 – Jury nullification in the UK (Richard Vogler, University of Sussex)
The Hearing – A Legal PodcastShow Notes
"Mind your privilege, give not away your right!" With those words, William Penn urged the jurors in his 1670 religious freedom trial to remember the power and the responsibility of their role in the English judicial system. For this episode, we return to the topic of jury nullification – the power of juries to acquit despite evidence of the defendant's guilt – with a fresh take from the UK.
Professor Richard Vogler of the University of Sussex chats with host Becky Annison about the role of jury nullification, going all the way back to William Penn's trial in the 17th century up to its relevance in climate change cases of today. They discuss why legal institutions began viewing juries with more suspicion from the 1970s, and why it’s more important than ever to defend the jury's place within our legal system – including its power to nullify convictions.
For more on this topic, listen to Janelle Wrigley’s conversation with Glenn Reynolds, from the University of Tennessee, about jury nullification in the US (ep.159) – https://pod.fo/e/269d1a.
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