The function of today’s juror is to serve as a “finder of fact.” The duty of the judge is to know the law and apply it to the facts found by the jury. The jury system is not a new concept.
It existed in medieval times, although it functioned in a different way than it does now. But jurors remain the “finders of fact.” In those early times there often was no written law on a particular subject, so the judgment of a court often depended on the application of “local custom” as legal precedent.
The following is an example taken from a first-year class in law school. Assume that Fred is hunting for deer with his bow and arrow. The land on which Fred is hunting is owned by the lord of the manor – not by Fred.
Fred spots a deer and shoots it with an arrow. The deer runs over the top of a hill and momentarily disappears. Fred follows and upon reaching the top of the hill is sees the deer lying on the ground with Bill standing over the deer with a bow in his hand.
A dispute follows with both claiming ownership of the deer which was killed in the lord’s land. Who is entitled to the deer? In early feudal times, the case would probably be tried in the manorial court (the lowest court), since the lord was the owner of the manor where the deer was killed, and the dispute developed. Jurors would be selected from the community who were considered qualified to serve, even though they had knowledge of the facts before the trial.
Let us say that the medieval jury found the fol.