⚖️ Jury Independence - Bushel’s Case
At the Old Bailey there is a display commemorating a jury that was imprisoned for refusing to obey a judge.
In 1670, in the trial of William Penn, the jury refused to convict in the way the Judge wanted. The judge locked them up without food or water and fined them for their verdict. One juror, Edward Bushel, challenged this.
In Bushel’s Case, the court ruled that jurors cannot be punished for their verdict.
That principle, that a jury must be free from judicial coercion, is one of the foundations of English constitutional law.
It means the state cannot investigate, prosecute, judge and compel a conviction.
It means ordinary citizens sit between the individual and state power.
It means conscience cannot be imprisoned.
Jury independence is absolute.
When we talk about protecting jury trials, we are talking about protecting that principle.
Your liberty depends on it.