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.
