Verdict and sentence

The eighth stage of a criminal trial is verdict. It is the jury who must decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. This decision is called their verdict. When the judge has finished his summing-up, the jury will go to their room, and consider their verdict in private. One of the jury is elected by them to be their foreman or a forewoman. He or she will act as their unofficial chairman and spokesman and will announce the jury’s verdict to the court.

The last (the ninth) phase of the trial is a quite separate one. It is because the sentence of the court is the punishment which the court must decide to impose. It is the judge who passes sentence in a case. The jury plays no part in this.

Deciding what the punishment should be is always one of the most difficult aspects of the judge’s duties. In some cases he may have no choice but to pass a particular sentence, but in most cases he does have discretion.

The judge must take into consideration all the circumstances of the offence itself. He will have heard about this in the course of the trial. In particular, he must consider the effect that the offence has had on the victim of the crime.

The judge is given information about the defendant’s own personal circumstances. If the defendant has not pleaded guilty and there has been a trial, the judge is already likely to know a good deal about him – his age, family, and employment situation. He will now be told in open court if the defendant has committed any crimes before, and if he has, his list of previous convictions will be read out. He is naturally expected to be more lenient towards a defendant of good character who has been a law-abiding citizen that a defendant who has been in troubles many times.

The judge must give the lawyer representing the defendant the chance to plead for leniency (a light sentence).

If a sentence of imprisonment is passed, the Dock Officer, whose job is to guard a defendant in court, makes a record of the sentences and escorts him to prison at the end of the day.