Scottish jury research: findings from a mock jury study

Acknowledgments

This has been a complex and lengthy research project which required the time and effort of a large number of people in order for the research to be completed successfully and on schedule. The authors are grateful to all the members of the public who gave up their time to participate in the mock juries, to Colin Hockaday and Lucy Setterfield for their work as core members of the Ipsos MORI research team, to all the other Ipsos MORI colleagues who assisted with recruiting mock jurors, running the mock jury sessions, data analysis and/or offering advice and queries on particular points (in particular to Diana Bardsley, Melissa Behm, Carolyn Black, Linda Hutcheson, Emily Gray, Chris Martin, Ciaran Mulholland, Kevin Pickering and Konstantina Vosnaki), to Michael Welsh and Penny Cobham and their colleagues at Heehaw for producing the films of the trial simulations, to Leigh Biagi, Lorna Craig, Ewan Donald, Peter Hannah and Beth Marshall for acting in the trial simulations, to Andy Watson at Warpro for training and supporting us with setting up the recording equipment, and to Ede and Ravenscroft for providing the necessary wigs and gowns for the actors playing the roles of advocates.

We are grateful to Lord Bonomy for acting as the judge in the trial simulations and commenting on draft trial scripts, to Sheriff Charles Stoddart and Jane Farquharson QC for commenting on draft trial scripts and attending rehearsals and filming to provide advice to trial participants, to Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff for facilitating the filming of the trial simulations at the High Court in Edinburgh, and to the members of the Research Advisory Group and Scottish Government staff for their support and for commenting on the research design, draft trial scripts, interim reports and drafts of this final report (Karen Auchincloss, Lesley Bagha, Catherine Bisset, Alastair Bowden, Willie Cowan, Sheriff Alistair Duff, Ella Edginton, Laura McDavitt, Kay McCorquodale, Anthony McGeehan, John Scullion QC, Lord Turnbull, Michael Walker and Tamsyn Wilson).

Though modified as appropriate to the Scottish context, some elements of the rape trial simulation drew on scripts prepared for previous ESRC research projects carried out by Vanessa Munro and Louise Ellison [RES 000-22-2374 and RES 000-22-4277]. Elements of the script for the assault trial simulation drew on Sheriff A L Stewart's The Scottish Criminal Courts in Action (2nd edn, 1997). Both scripts drew on the work of the Judicial Institute for Scotland in providing guidance to judges in the Jury Manual.