Participants in the Trial

AuthorLoree Armstrong Beniuk, Jo-Anne Hughes, and Jack Reynolds
Pages69-76
69
Participants in the Trial
e representative nature of a jury and its impartiality have been described as the
qualities that make the jury an eminent fact nder and enable it to properly perform
its functions. e jury selection process is comprised of two states. First there is a
“pre-trial” selection process, whereby a pool of prospective jurors randomly selected
from the community is made available for court sittings. e second stage, known
as “empanelling the jury”, begins immediately aer the accused has entered a plea
to the charge. In view of statistical evidence concerning the prevalence of sexual
abuse in contemporary Canadian society, in R. v. Betker, the trial judge alerted
the entire panel to the nature of the charges and invited prospective jurors who
would nd it dicult to sit as jurors because of the charges to identify themselves
in order that they might be excused on account of personal hardship in accordance
with s. (c) of the Criminal Code.
— Anna Maleszyk, Crimes Against Children
Where a person is charged with a crime, a Crown Aorney is assigned
to the case. Crown prosecutors are employed by the province’s Min-
istry of the Aorney General. The same Crown Aorney will usually work
with a case from the beginning to end, but that is not always possible.
The Crown’s initial concern is that charges are laid only where enough
evidence exists to support them, and then to successfully prosecute the case.
If there is a trial, it will be heard in criminal court. Once criminal charges
have been laid, only the Crown Aorney can withdraw them.
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