The British And Australian Laws The Jury Has No Access To The Past Criminal Record Of The Defendant

It is believed, and rightly so, that a person learns from his past and makes his future bright by correcting the mistakes committed in the past. Due to

this

, a person should not be judged, as a whole, by his past deeds only. Due the

weightage

the product of voltage and current

wattage

must be accorded to the present circumstances in which the person commits an act, which may either give a positive or a negative result. Different nations across the globe have a different set of rules in respect of criminal cases that come

across the

Suggestion

across to the jury

jury

of

such

nation. The

jury

under the British and Australian laws has no access as regards the past criminal record of a

defendant

.

This

provides an edge to the

defendant

, as the

jury

comes to a decision in a vacuum.

Moreover

, in

absence

Suggestion

the absence

of previous criminal records the

jury

does not arrive at a decision due to any

biasedness

a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it

business

or pre-conceived notion about the character of the

defendant

.

This

situation, undoubtedly, favours the

defendant

.

However

, another school of thought believes that the

jury

must be aware of the past criminal records of the

defendant

. According to the believers of

this

school, an access to the past criminal records, actually provides a factual, realistic and reasonable platform to the

jury

to deliver their judgment. The past records, as a matter of fact, provides the insight into

nature

Suggestion

the nature

, character, upbringing, social level, mental health and numerous other factors of the

defendant

. With the help of these tools, it becomes easy and logical for the

jury

to read the subconscious mind of

such

defendant

.

Moreover

, it

also

facilitates the

jury

to take a reasoned, well defined, appropriate, conscious, deliberate, judicious and prudent decision. As a matter of fact, in the recent case of a known gangster that made headlines in the criminal magazine, The ABC, it was only due to the knowledge of

modus operandi

Suggestion

the modus operandi

of the said gangster in past records, that the

jury

overruled the theory of reasonable doubt that was

illusioned

by the advocate of the

defendant

. In short, in my opinion, the

jury

must be made aware of the past records to provide them the opportunity to have a full 360-degree view of the

defendant

, as a whole.