The criminal courts
Juries
The jury’s decision
The jury’s decision must usually be unanimous – that is, every juror must agree with the verdict.
However, a majority verdict will be accepted where a jury has deliberated for at least four hours and there is no probability of them reaching a unanimous verdict – so long as the judge believes the jury has already deliberated for a reasonable length of time. In a criminal case, a majority verdict must include all jurors except one, that is 11 jurors.
If the jury can’t all agree, or if they can’t reach a majority verdict, there is no decision (a “hung jury”) and there could be a new trial.
Occasionally, a juror may get sick or become unavailable during trial. In such cases, the trial can generally continue with only 11 jurors. However, if more than one juror becomes unavailable, special rules apply. Usually, the trial will need to be cancelled (“aborted”) and a new trial date set with a new jury.
