Participants in the Trial

• Author: Loree Armstrong Beniuk, Jo-Anne Hughes, and Jack Reynolds
• Pages: 69-76

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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