Grand jury#Federal level

The grand jury has been described as a "shield and sword""Law on the Books: Shield and Sword". [https://books.google.com/books?id=8MVHAQAAIAAJ America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System]. 1999. p 247. that has both an offensive purpose and defensive purpose.Statement of Sara Sun Beale. Constitutional Rights and the Grand Jury. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ETlAW7i6PxQC&pg=PA18 p 18]. It has been called the shield of the people against the power of the crown;HL Deb, 17 July 1812, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D5NUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1091 col 1091] though Green says this is a myth.Diamond. Federal Grand Jury Practice and Procedure. 5th Edition. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NexZBAAAQBAJ&pg=SA1-PA5 p 1-5]. It has been described as the "sword of the people"Judicial Council of California. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r_uxAAAAIAAJ 1 January 1974]. p 30. and as a sword of the crown.Bennett. Environmental Crime: Pollution and Wildlife Enforcement. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NJWcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 p 39]

The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of a crime, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. Traditionally, a grand jury consists of 23 members.

The mode of accusation is by a written statement of two types:

1. in solemn form (indictment) describing the offense with proper accompaniments of time and circumstances, and certainty of act and person, or
2. by a less formal mode, which is usually the spontaneous act of the grand jury, called presentment.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/commentariesonl00baylgoog/page/n642/mode/2up |first1=John Bethune |last1=Bayly |first2=William |last2=Blackstone |author-link2=William Blackstone |date=1840 |title=Commentaries on the Laws of England |chapter=Book 4, Ch. 23: Of the Several Modes of Prosecution |location=London, UK |publisher=Sanders & Benning |page=586}}

No indictment or presentment can be made except by concurrence of at least twelve of the jurors. The grand jury may accuse upon their own knowledge, but it is generally done upon the testimony of witnesses under oath and other evidence heard before them. Grand jury proceedings are, in the first instance, at the instigation of the government or other prosecutors, and ex parte and in secret deliberation. The accused has no knowledge nor right to interfere with their proceedings.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrcTAAAAQAAJ&q=grand+jury&pg=PA590 |first=Charles F. |last=Partington |author-link=Charles F. Partington |date=1836 |title=British Cyclopedia of Literature, History, Geography, Law, and Politics |chapter=Jury, Trial by |volume=2 |location=London, UK |publisher=Orr & Smith |page=591}}

If they find the accusation true, which is usually drawn up in form by the prosecutor or an officer of the court, they write upon the indictment the words "a true bill" which is signed by the foreperson of the grand jury and presented to the court publicly in the presence of all the jurors. If the indictment is not proven to the satisfaction of the grand jury, the word ignoramus{{efn|In Latin, ignoramus literally means "we are ignorant of" or "we do not know" – in the context of a Grand Jury it effectively means "we do not know of any reason why this person should be indicted on these charges". This use of ignoramus long predates its more common English meaning of an ignorant person or dunce.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}}} or "not a true bill" is written upon it by the grand jury, or by their foreman and then said to be ignored, and the accusation is dismissed as unfounded; the potential defendant is said to have been "no-billed" by the grand jury. If the grand jury returns an indictment as a true bill (billa vera), the indictment is said to be founded and the party to stand indicted and required to be put on trial.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/n7/mode/2up |chapter=Book 3, Chapter VII: The Grand Jury |first=Seymour F. |last=Harris |date=1896 |title=Principles of the Criminal Law |edition=7th |location=London, UK |publisher=Stevens & Haynes |page=358}}

In Japan, the Prosecutorial Review Commission is made up of 11 randomly selected citizens, is appointed to a six-month term, and its primary purpose is examining cases prosecutors have chosen not to continue prosecuting. It has therefore been perceived as a way to combat misfeasance in public officials. This is similar to civil grand juries in U.S. states like California.

Similarly, in 2011 there was a private member's bill in Ontario, Canada which would create citizen grand juries to oversee government institutions. The bill did not make any progress and was not passed.[https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-39/session-2/bill-207/debates Bill 207, Grand Juries Act, 2011]. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 39th Parliament, Session 2.

{{See also|Citizens' assembly}}

Many early grand juries in the U.S. had quasi-legislative functions like passing legislation or approving taxes or expenditures.

From the 17th century until 1898 in Ireland, Grand Juries also functioned as local government authorities:{{Cite web |title=Grand Jury Collection |url=https://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/departments/culture-heritage/archives/collections/grand-jury.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130222614/https://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/departments/culture-heritage/archives/collections/grand-jury.htm |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-15 |publisher=Waterford City & County Council}}

{{quote|They fixed the salaries of public officers; they regulated prisons and houses of correction; they levied funds for the support of hospitals; they made and repaired roads and bridges, and they framed accounts of the expenses incurred in these matters... They determined what public works should be undertaken — what price should be paid for them, and who were the individuals that should undertake them, and be responsible for their completion. They settled the amount of the local taxation of the county, and, under their direction, it was levied from the actual occupiers of the land.Hansard, House of Commons, 19 February 1833.}}

{{Main|Grand juries in the United States}}

At the time of the founding of the United States, a grand jury indictment was required for almost all prosecutions, and juries rendered the final verdict of almost all criminal and civil cases.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Suja A. |title=The missing American jury: restoring the fundamental constitutional role of the criminal, civil, and grand juries |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-05565-0 |location=New York, NY |pages=1–2}} The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury{{nbsp}}..."

File:Grand jury at Arcadia Hotel fire (LOC).jpg in Boston, Massachusetts in 1913]]

In the early decades of the United States, grand juries played a major role in public matters. During that period counties followed the traditional practice of requiring all decisions be made by at least 12 of the grand jurors, (e.g., for a 23-person grand jury, 12 people would constitute a bare majority).{{Cite web |title=History of the Grand Jury {{!}} Superior Court of California {{!}} County of Glenn |url=https://www.glenn.courts.ca.gov/divisions/grand-jury/history-grand-jury |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.glenn.courts.ca.gov}} Most criminal prosecutions were conducted by private parties, either a law enforcement officer, a lawyer hired by a crime victim or his family, or even by laymen. A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury; if the grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant. The grand jury would then appoint the complaining party to exercise essentially the same authority as a state attorney general has, that is, a general power of attorney to represent the state in the case.

The grand jury served to screen out incompetent or malicious prosecutions.{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=George John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e5cFAAAAMAAJ |title=The Grand Jury: Considered from an Historical, Political and Legal Standpoint, and the Law and Practice Relating Thereto |publisher=G.T. Bisel |year=1906 |isbn=978-0-404-09113-2 |editor-last=Ward |editor-first=Richard H. |location=University of Michigan |access-date=22 May 2011}} The advent of official public prosecutors in the later decades of the 19th century largely displaced private prosecutions.{{cite journal |last=Roots |first=Roger |date=1999–2000 |title=If It's Not a Runaway, It's Not a Real Grand Jury |url=http://www.constitution.org/lrev/roots/runaway.htm |url-status=dead |journal=Creighton Law Review |volume=33 |issue=4 |page=821 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040502021544/http://www.constitution.org/lrev/roots/runaway.htm |archive-date=2 May 2004}}

In 1974, the second Watergate grand jury indicted seven White House aides,{{Cite web |last1=Watkins |first1=Eli |last2=Kaufman |first2=Ellie |date=2018-10-31 |title=National Archives releases draft indictment of Nixon amid Mueller probe {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/31/politics/richard-nixon-watergate-national-archives-mueller/index.html |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=CNN |language=en}} including former Attorney General John Mitchell, and named President Nixon as a "secret, un-indicted, co-conspirator". Despite evading impeachment by resigning from office, Nixon was still required to testify before a grand jury.{{Cite news |last=Totenberg |first=Nina |date=November 10, 2011 |title=Newly Released Testimony Is Vintage Nixon |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142218777/newly-released-testimony-is-vintage-nixon |work=NPR}} In 1998, President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president required to testify before a grand jury as the subject of an investigation by the Office of Independent Counsel.{{cite web |title=1998, August 17: Clinton testifies before grand jury |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/clinton-testifies-before-grand-jury |access-date=23 September 2018 |website=History.com |series=This Day in History}}

While all states have provisions for grand juries as of 2003,{{Cite web |last1=Brenner |first1=Susan |last2=Shaw |first2=Lori |year=2003 |title=State Grand Juries |url=http://campus.udayton.edu/~grandjur/stategj/stateg.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703121353/http://campus.udayton.edu/~grandjur/stategj/stateg.htm |archive-date=3 July 2016 |access-date=2010-08-02 |publisher=University of Dayton School of Law}} today approximately half of the states employ them{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions About the Grand Jury System |url=http://www.abanow.org/2010/03/faqs-about-the-grand-jury-system/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424124519/http://www.abanow.org/2010/03/faqs-about-the-grand-jury-system/ |archive-date=2011-04-24 |access-date=2011-05-11 |website=American Bar Association}} and 22 states have provision to prevent the abolition of grand juries by legislatures or courts as of 2003.{{cite web |last1=Brenner |first1=Susan |last2=Shaw |first2=Lori |year=2003 |title=Power to abolish Grand Jury |url=http://campus.udayton.edu/~grandjur/stategj/abolish.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217122422/http://campus.udayton.edu/~grandjur/stategj/abolish.htm |archive-date=2007-02-17 |access-date=2007-03-29 |publisher=University of Dayton School of Law}} Six states (Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nevada, and Kansas) allow citizens to circulate a petition in order to impanel a grand jury.{{cite web |title=Laws governing citizen grand juries in Oklahoma |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_citizen_grand_juries_in_Oklahoma |website=Ballotpedia}}

An American federal grand jury has from 16 to 23 jurors, with twelve votes usually required to return an indictment. All grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors, without a presiding judge. The prosecutors are tasked with arranging for the appearance of witnesses, as well as drafting the order in which they are called, and take part in the questioning of witnesses.{{cite web |date=January 10, 2019 |title=Federal Grand Jury Secrecy: Legal Principles and Implications for Congressional Oversight |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/R45456.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329110657/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/R45456.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-29 |access-date=January 15, 2020 |publisher=Congressional Research Service}} The targets of the grand jury or their lawyers have no right to appear before a grand jury unless they are invited, nor do they have a right to present exculpatory evidence.

After World War II, under the influence of the Allies, Japan passed the Prosecutorial Review Commission Law on July 12, 1948, which created the Kensatsu Shinsakai (or Prosecutorial Review Commission (PRC) system), analogous to the grand jury system in the United States.{{Cite journal |last=Fukurai |first=Hiroshi |date=August 4, 2017 |title=The Rebirth of Japan's Petit Quasi-Jury and Grand Jury Systems: A Cross-National Analysis of Legal Consciousness and the Lay Participatory Experience in Japan and the U.S. |url=http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1699&context=cilj |journal=Cornell International Law Journal |volume=40 |issue=2}} Until 2009 the PRC's recommendations were not binding, and were only regarded as advisory.{{cite journal |last1=Fukurai |first1=Hiroshi |date=2011 |title=Japan's Prosecutorial Review Commissions: Lay Oversight of the Government's Discretion of Prosecution |url=http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1049&context=ealr |journal=University of Pennsylvania East Asia Law Review |pages=5–10 |access-date=2 December 2014}} A survey conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office in October 1990 showed that 68.8% of surveyed Japanese citizens were not familiar with the PRC system.{{Relevance inline|date=May 2024}} On May 21, 2009, the Japanese government introduced new legislation which would make the PRC's decisions binding. A PRC is made up of 11 randomly selected citizens, is appointed to a six-month term, and its primary purpose is examining cases prosecutors have chosen not to continue prosecuting.{{cite journal |last1=Gastil |first1=John |last2=Fukurai |first2=Hiroshi |last3=Anderson |first3=Kent |last4=Nolan |first4=Mark |date=September 13, 2014 |title=Seeing Is Believing: The Impact of Jury Service on Attitudes Toward Legal Institutions and the Implications for International Jury Reform |url=http://www.la1.psu.edu/cas/jurydem/SeeingIsBelieving_20130422100444_919286.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Court Review |volume=48 |page=126 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226014327/http://www.la1.psu.edu/cas/jurydem/SeeingIsBelieving_20130422100444_919286.pdf |archive-date=26 February 2015 |access-date=2 December 2014}} It has therefore been perceived as a way to combat misfeasance in public officials.{{cite journal |last1=Fukurai |first1=Hiroshi |date=January 2011 |title=Japan's Quasi-Jury and Grand Jury Systems as Deliberative Agents of Social Change: De-Colonial Strategies and Deliberative Participatory Democracy |url=http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3801&context=cklawreview |journal=Chicago-Kent Law Review |volume=86 |issue=2 |page=825 |access-date=2 December 2014}} This an inverse of American grand juries, as they investigate if a case should be reinstated after being dropped by the prosecution, as opposed to if there is probable cause for changes to be laid in the first place. In this sense, a Japanese PRC functions for the benefit of the one pressing charges, as opposed to being a check on prosecutorial power.

From 1945 to 1972 Okinawa was under American administration. Grand jury proceedings were held in the territory from 1963 until 1972.{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Matthew J. |title=Japan and Civil Jury Trials: The Convergence of Forces |last2=Fukurai |first2=Hiroshi |last3=Maruta |first3=Takashi |date=October 2015 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publications |isbn=978-1-78347-918-4 |location=Cheltenham, UK |page=134}} By an ordinance of the civil administration of the Ryukyu Islands promulgated in 1963, grand jury indictment and petit jury trial were assured for criminal defendants in the civil administration courts. This ordinance reflected the concern of the U.S. Supreme CourtU.S. Supreme Court decision: Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, 77 S.Ct. 1222, 1 L.Ed.2d 1148 (1957) that U.S. civilians tried for crimes abroad under tribunals of U.S. provenance should not be shorn of the protections of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Indeed, the District Court in Washington twice held that the absence of the jury system in the civil administration courts in Okinawa invalidated criminal convictions.District (i.e. federal) court of the District of Columbia decisions: re Nicholson, H.C. 141-61, D.D.C., Nov. 19, 1963, and Ikeda v. McNamara, H.C. 416-62, D.D.C., Oct. 19, 1962Vanoverbeke. Juries in the Japanese Legal System. 2015. pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=DnsGCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 105] & 106.

Grand juries in Liberia were included in section 7 of article 1 of the constitution of 1847.{{cite web |title=Constitution of Liberia (1847), Section 7 |url=http://onliberia.org/con_1847_orig.htm#a17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117084908/http://onliberia.org/con_1847_orig.htm#a17 |archive-date=2010-01-17 |website=onliberia.org}}Article 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YK43AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA3 Section 7] By article 21 of the Constitution of Liberia,{{cite web |date=1984 |title=Constitution of Liberia |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/ozheflud/constitution-of-the-republic-of-libera-1984-ext-en.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204301/https://www.clientearth.org/media/ozheflud/constitution-of-the-republic-of-libera-1984-ext-en.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-24 |via=ClientEarth}} 'No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime except in cases of impeachment, cases arising in the Armed Forces and petty offenses, unless upon indictment by a Grand Jury". For example, the national Port Authority's managing director was indicted by the Monteserrado County Grand Jury in July 2015, on charges of economic sabotage, theft of property and criminal conspiracy.{{cite web |date=23 July 2015 |title=Liberian Grand Jury Indicts Port Director |url=http://maritime-executive.com/article/liberian-grand-jury-indicts-port-director |access-date=8 January 2016 |website=Maritime Executive}} It is one of the only remaining countries using a grand jury in this manner.{{Cite news |last1=Shapiro |first1=Chava |last2=Clark |first2=James |date=2023-09-27 |title=It's Time to Abolish Grand Juries Once and for All |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/abolish-grand-juries-cop-city-trump/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |work=The Nation |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378}}

Richard Helmholz traces the Grand Jury's origins to the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, an Act of Henry II of England, though others note that the trial jury was brought to England by the Normans, and a form of grand jury may have been used during the reign of Æthelred the Unready.{{Cite web |last=Jameson |first=Marianne |date=October 26, 2004 |title=History of Civil Grand Juries |url=https://cgja.org/history-of-grand-juries/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Civil Grand Jurors' Association of California |language=en |type=Reference material}}{{cite journal |last=Helmholzt |first=Richard H. |date=1983 |title=The Early History of the Grand Jury and the Canon Law |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234137506.pdf |url-status=live |journal=University of Chicago Law Review |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=613–627 |doi=10.2307/1599504 |jstor=1599504 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204332/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234137506.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-24}} Henry's chief impact on the development of the English monarchy was to increase the jurisdiction of the royal courts at the expense of the feudal courts. Itinerant justices on regular circuits were sent out once each year to enforce the "King's Peace". To make this system of royal criminal justice more effective, Henry employed the method of inquest used by William the Conqueror in the Domesday Book. In each shire, a body of important men were sworn (juré) to report to the sheriff all crimes committed since the last session of the circuit court. Thus originated the more recent grand jury that presents information for an indictment.{{cite web |title=The Making Of Modern Britain: Medieval Politics, Economics, Religion, And Learning |url=http://www.history-world.org/midbritain.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714013039/http://www.history-world.org/midbritain.htm |archive-date=14 July 2012 |website=www.history-world.org}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2024}} The grand jury was later recognized by King John in Magna Carta in 1215 on demand of the nobility.{{cite news |last=Turley |first=Hugh |date=January 2007 |title=The Grand Jury |url=http://www.dcdave.com/article5/070119.htm |newspaper=Hyattsville Life & Times |via=DC Dave}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2024}}

{{See also|Inquests in England and Wales}}

The sheriff of every county was required to return to every quarter sessions and assizes (or more precisely the commission of oyer and terminer and of gaol delivery), 24 men of the county "to inquire into, present, do and execute all those things which, on the part of our Lord the King (or our Lady the Queen), shall then be commanded them". Grand jurors at the assizes or at the borough quarter sessions did not have property qualifications; but, at the county quarter sessions, they had the same property qualification as petty jurors. However, at the assizes, the grand jury generally consisted of gentlemen of high standing in the county.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, p [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/357/mode/1up?view=theater 357].

After the court was opened by the crier making proclamation, the names of those summoned to the grand jury were called and they were sworn. They numbered at least 14 and not more than 23. The person presiding (the judge at the assizes, the chairman at the county sessions, the recorder at the borough sessions) gave the charge to the grand jury, i.e. he directed their attention to points in the various cases about to be considered which required explanation.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, pp [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/357/mode/1up?view=theater 357] & 358.

The charge having been delivered, the grand jury withdrew to their own room, having received the bills of indictment. The witnesses whose names were endorsed on each bill were sworn as they came to be examined, in the grand jury room, the oath being administered by the foreman, who wrote his initials against the name of the witness on the back of the bill. Only the witnesses for the prosecution were examined, as the function of the grand jury was merely to inquire whether there was sufficient ground to put the accused on trial. If the majority of them (and at least 12) thought that the evidence so adduced made out a sufficient case, the words "a true bill" were endorsed on the back of the bill. If they were of the opposite opinion, the phrase "not a true bill", or the single Latin word ignoramus ("we do not know" or "we are ignorant (of)"), was endorsed instead and the bill was said to be "ignored" or thrown out. They could find a true bill as to the charge in one count, and ignore that in another; or as to one defendant and not as to another; but they could not, like a petty jury, return a special or conditional finding, or select part of a count as true and reject the other part. When some bills were "found", some of the jurors came out and handed the bills to the clerk of arraigns (in assizes) or clerk of the peace, who announced to the court the name of the prisoner, the charge, and the endorsements of the grand jury. They then retired and considered other bills until all were disposed of; after which they were discharged by the judge, chairman, or recorder.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, pp [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/358/mode/1up 358] & 359.

If a bill was thrown out, although it could not again be referred to the grand jury during the same assizes or sessions, it could be preferred at subsequent assizes or sessions, but not in respect of the same offense if a petty jury had returned a verdict.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, p [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/359/mode/1up?view=theater 359].

Ordinarily, bills of indictment were preferred after there had been an examination before the magistrates. But this need not always take place. With certain exceptions, any person would prefer a bill of indictment against another before the grand jury without any previous inquiry into the truth of the accusation before a magistrate. This right was at one time universal and was often abused. A substantial check was put on this abuse by the Vexatious Indictments Act 1859.22 & 23 Vict. c. 17, s. l. This Act provided that for certain offences which it listed (perjury, libel, etc.), the person presenting such an indictment must be bound by recognizance to prosecute or give evidence against the accused, or alternatively had judicial permission (as specified) so to do.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, pp [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/359/mode/1up?view=theater 359] & 360.

If an indictment was found in the absence of the accused, and he/she was not in custody and had not been bound over to appear at assizes or sessions, then process was issued to bring that person into court, as it is contrary to the English law to "try" an indictment in the absence of the accused.Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd Ed, 1884, p [https://archive.org/details/principlescrimi00agabgoog/page/361/mode/1up?view=theater 361].

The grand jury's functions were gradually made redundant by the development of committal proceedings in magistrates' courts from 1848 onward when the (three) Jervis Acts,See "Indictable Offences Act 1848" (11 and 12 Vict c. 42); title: "An Act to facilitate the Performance of the Duties of Justices of the Peace out of Sessions within England and Wales with respect to Persons charged with indictable Offences". such as the Justices Protection Act 1848, codified and greatly expanded the functions of magistrates in pre-trial proceedings; these proceedings developed into almost a repeat of the trial itself. In 1933 the grand jury ceased to function in England, under the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/23-24/36/contents/data.htm |title=Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 |website=Legislation.gov.uk}} and was entirely abolished in 1948, when a clause from 1933 saving grand juries for offences relating to officials abroad was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1948.Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law, 18th Ed, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZX9sAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA578 p 578]"The Grand Jury in England's Past and America's Present: Part I" [https://books.google.com/books?id=MI4wAQAAIAAJ 162] Justice of the Peace 839 at 842 (24 October 1998)

The grand jury was introduced in Scotland, solely for high treason, a year after the union with England, by the Treason Act 1708, an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain."Scotland" in Jury. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th Ed. Section III of the Act required the Scottish courts to try cases of treason and misprision of treason according to English rules of procedure and evidence.Treason Act, 1708 (7 Ann c 21) This rule was repealed in 1945.Treason Act 1945 (c. 44), section 2(2) and Schedule.

The first Scottish grand jury under this Act met at Edinburgh on 10 October 1748 to take cognisance of the charges against such rebels as had not surrendered, following the Jacobite rising of 1745.Buchanan and Aikman. The History of Scotland. 1829. vol 6. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fWWa2xX92loC&pg=PA597 p 597].

An account of its first use in Scotland illustrates the institution's characteristics. It consisted of 23 good and lawful men, chosen out of 48 who were summoned: 24 from the county of Edinburgh (Midlothian), 12 from Haddington (East Lothian) and 12 from Linlithgow (West Lothian). The court consisted of three judges from the High Court of Justiciary (Scotland's highest criminal court), of whom Tinwald (Justice Clerk) was elected preses (presiding member). Subpoenas under the seal of the court and signed by the clerk were executed on a great number of persons in different shires, requiring them to appear as witnesses under the penalty of £100 each. The preses named Sir John Inglis of Cramond as Foreman of the Grand Jury, who was sworn first in the English manner by kissing the book; the others followed three at a time; after which Lord Tinwald, addressing the jurors, informed them that the power His Majesty's advocate possessed before the union, of prosecuting any person for high treason, who appeared guilty on a precognition taken of the facts, being now done away, power was lodged with them, a grand jury, 12 of whom behoved to concur before a true bill could be found. An indictment was then preferred in court and the witnesses endorsed on it were called over and sworn; on which the jury retired to the exchequer chambers and the witnesses were conducted to a room near it, whence they were called to be examined separately. Two solicitors for the crown were present at the examination but no one else; and after they had finished and the sense of the jury was collected, the indictment was returned a "true bill", if the charges were found proved, or "ignoramus" if doubtful. The proceedings continued for a week, in which time, out of 55 bills, 42 were sustained and 13 dismissed.{{cite book |first1=James |last1=Aikman |first2=George |last2=Buchanan |date=1829 |title=The History of Scotland : translated from the Latin of George Buchanan with notes and a continuation to the present time |volume=6 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Thomas Ireland |page=597}}

In Ireland, grand juries were active from the Middle Ages during the Lordship of Ireland in parts of the island under the control of the English government (The Pale), that was followed by the Kingdom of Ireland in 1542. They mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level. The system was so-called as the grand jurors had to present their public works proposals and budgets in court for official sanction by a judge. Grand jurors were usually the largest local payers of rates, and therefore tended to be the larger landlords, and on retiring they selected new members from the same background.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Distinct from their public works function, as property owners they also were qualified to sit on criminal juries hearing trials by jury, as well as having a pre-trial judicial function for serious criminal cases. Many of them also sat as magistrates judging the less serious cases.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

They were usually wealthy "country gentlemen" (i.e. landowners, landed gentry, farmers and merchants):

{{Blockquote|A country gentleman as a member of a Grand Jury... levied the local taxes, appointed the nephews of his old friends to collect them, and spent them when they were gathered in. He controlled the boards of guardians and appointed the dispensary doctors, regulated the diet of paupers, inflicted fines and administered the law at petty sessions.{{cite book |last=McDowell |first=R. B |title=The Church of Ireland, 1869–1969 |editor1-first=T.W. |editor1-last=Moody |editor2-first=J.C. |editor2-last=Beckett |editor3-first=J.V. |editor3-last=Kelleher |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1975 |page=2 |isbn=0-7100-8072-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdU9AAAAIAAJ |access-date=2011-09-03}}}}

From 1691 to 1793, Catholics and Protestants who were not members of Church of Ireland were excluded from membership. The concentration of power and wealth in a few families caused resentment over time. The system of local government started to become more representative from the passing of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. A divergence of opinions can be seen in the House of Commons debate on 8 March 1861 led by Isaac Butt.{{cite hansard |title=Select Committee Moved For |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1861/mar/08/select-committee-moved-for |house=House of Commons |date=8 March 1861 |column_start=1676 |column_end=1683 |speaker=Isaac Butt |position=Member for Youghal}} Grand juries were eventually replaced by democratically elected county councils by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, as regards their administrative functions.{{cite book |editor-last=Chandler |editor-first=J. A |title=Local Government in Liberal Democracies: An Introductory Survey |publisher=Routledge |year=1993 |page=31 |isbn=978-0-415-08875-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zFCA4BjmiQC&q=%22the+grand+juries+continued+until+most+of+their%22&pg=PA31 |access-date=2009-08-19}}

After the formation of Irish Free State, grand juries were abolished by section 27 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924,[https://books.google.com/books?id=kuotAAAAIAAJ 23] The Journal of Criminal Law 137 and 138 but they persisted in Northern Ireland until abolished by the Grand Jury (Abolition) Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1969.Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament, 1969 c.15

Grand juries were once common across Canada. The institution of British civil government in 1749 at Nova Scotia brought the judicature system peculiar to that form, and the grand jury was inherent to it. A similar form derived in Quebec from the promise of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that a faithful copy of Laws of England would be instituted in the North American possessions of the Crown.{{cite web |title=The Royal Proclamation, October 7, 1763 |url=https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/rp_1763.html |website=The Solon Law Archive}} Archival records are found that document the presentments of a grand jury in Quebec as early as 16 October 1764. One of the chief complaints was related to the jury trial, and the use of language.Doughty{{Verification needed|date=May 2024}} The desire for English law was a driver for the division in 1791 of Quebec, as it was then known, at the Ottawa river into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, as each of the two groups (French and English) desired to maintain their traditions. In point of fact, the second law passed in Upper Canada relates to (petit) jury trial. This was continued so that Chapter 31 of the 1859 Consolidated Statutes of Upper Canada specifies the constitution of Grand and Petit Juries in the province (now known as Ontario).{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924016981684 |title=The consolidated statutes for Upper Canada |date=1859 |publisher=S. Derbishire and G. Desbarats, law printer to the Queen |location=Toronto |access-date=31 December 2018 |via=Internet Archive}} The colony at St. John's Island, ceded by France in 1763, and separated on 30 May 1769 from Nova Scotia,{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Timeline History of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court |url=http://www.courts.ns.ca/history/timeline.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017110236/http://www.courts.ns.ca/history/timeline.htm |archivedate=October 17, 2013 |website=The Courts of Nova Scotia}} became Prince Edward Island on 29 November 1798. Prince Edward Island derived its grand jury from its administrative parent between 1763 and 1769, Nova Scotia, as did Sunbury County when it was split off in 1784 to become the Colony of New Brunswick. The Colony of British Columbia, when it was formed on 2 August 1858, instituted a grand jury,{{cite book |last=Parker |first=Nancy |title=Essays in the History of Canadian Law: The Legal History of British Columbia and the Yukon |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1995 |editor1-last=Flaherty |editor1-first=David H. |chapter=Swift Justice and the Decline of the Criminal Trial Jury: The Dynamics of Law and Authority in Victoria, BC 1858–1905 |editor2-last=McLaren |editor2-first=John |editor3-last=Foster |editor3-first=Hamar}} along with the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands (1853–1863) and the Colony of Vancouver Island (1848–1866) when the latter were absorbed by the former.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Old courthouses with the two jury boxes necessary to accommodate the 24 jurors of a grand jury can still be seen.{{cite book |last=Stokes |first=Mary |title=Essays in the History of Canadian Law |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=9781442670051 |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=G. Blaine |location=Toronto |pages=538–570 |chapter=Grand Juries and 'Proper Authorities': Low Law, Soft Law and Local Governance in Canada West/Ontario, 1850–1880 |doi=10.3138/9781442670051-014 |ssrn=1674089 |editor2-last=Fyson |editor2-first=Donald |s2cid=153842169}} The grand jury would evaluate charges and return what was called a "true bill (of indictment)" if the charges were to proceed.Phillips Cables Ltd. v. United Steelworkers of America, Local 7276 (Nicolosi grievance), [1974] O.L.A.A. No. 13, at para. 15. or a verdict of nolle prosequi if not. The practice gradually disappeared in Canada over the course of the twentieth century, after being the subject of extended discussions late in the 19th. It was ultimately abolished in 1984 when the Nova Scotia courts formally ended the practice.{{cite web |date=2006-07-18 |title=Who invented the grand jury? |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2256/who-invented-the-grand-jury |access-date=2010-10-17 |website=The Straight Dope}}

In the present day, probable cause is determined by a judge in the preliminary hearing. In many circumstances, the attorney general can skip the preliminary hearing and have the case go directly to trial if it is in the interests of public safety.{{cite web |last=Dostal |first=Peter |title=Direct Indictments |website=The Criminal Law Notebook |url=https://criminalnotebook.ca/index.php/Direct_Indictments |access-date=2025-02-04}}

The grand jury existed in New South Wales for a short period in the 1820s.{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=J.M. |title=The Establishment of Jury Trial in New South Wales |publisher=Faculty of Law, University of Sydney |year=1961}} The New South Wales Act 1823 (UK) enabled the establishment of quarter sessions, as a subsidiary court structure below that of the Supreme Court. Francis Forbes, Chief Justice, reasoned that this entailed the creation of quarter sessions as they existed in England. Thus, inadvertently, trial by jury and indictment by grand jury were introduced, but only for these subsidiary courts. Grand juries met in Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor and other places. This democratic method of trial proved very popular, but was resented by conservatives. Eventually, conservative elements in the colony were successful in having these innovations suppressed by the Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK). George Forbes, a member of the Legislative Council, unsuccessfully moved for the reintroduction of grand juries in 1858, but this was thwarted by the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice.{{cite book |last=Woods |first=G.D. |title=A History of Criminal Law in New South Wales: The Colonial Period, 1788–1900 |date=2002 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-439-8 |location=Annandale, NSW |pages=56–59}}

In South Australia and Western Australia, grand juries existed for longer periods of time.{{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Greg |date=October 2001 |title=The Grand Jury of South Australia |journal=American Journal of Legal History |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=468–516 |doi=10.2307/3185314 |jstor=3185314 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2440/109282}} In South Australia, the first grand jury sat on 13 May 1837, but they were abolished in 1852. In Western Australia, by the Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 (WA), grand juries were abolished (section 4: A Grand Jury shall not be summoned for the Supreme Court of Western Australia, nor for any General Quarter Sessions for the said Colony).{{cite web |title=Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 |url=http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/main_mrtitle_10315_homepage.html |access-date=9 May 2013 |website=Government of Western Australia}} This 1883 abolition Act was itself abolished by the Criminal Procedure and Appeals (Consequential and Other Provisions) Act 2004 (section 5: The Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 is repealed).

The Australian state of Victoria maintained, until 2009, provisions for a grand jury in the Crimes Act 1958 under section 354 indictments, which had been used on rare occasions by individuals to bring other persons to court seeking them to be committed for trial on indictable offences. Grand juries were introduced by the Judicature Act 1874 and have been used on a very limited number of occasions. Their function in Victoria particularly relates to alleged offences either by bodies corporate or where magistrates have aborted the prosecution.{{cite journal |last=Histed |first=Elise |date=September 1987 |title=The introduction and use of the grand jury in Victoria |journal=Journal of Legal History |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=167–177 |doi=10.1080/01440368708530896}}

The grand jury was established in New Zealand in 1844. Its function was to consider bills of indictment preferred against persons committed for trial and to decide whether the evidence against them justified their standing trial. At first the grand jury retained the theoretical power to present an indictment of its own motion, a relic of mediaeval times when the grand jury's purpose was to accuse rather than protect from trial. This power has disappeared in 1893.{{Cite book |last=McLintock |first=Alexander Hare |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |publisher=New Zealand Government |year=1966}} Grand juries were later abolished in 1961 and followed by special juries in 1981.{{Cite web |last=Powles |first=Michèle |date=1999 |title=A Legal History of the New Zealand Jury Service - Introduction, Evolution and Equality? |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/1999/19.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |website= |publisher=VUWLawRw 19; 29(2) Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 283}}

Trial by jury was introduced in the Cape Colony by Richard Bourke, Lieutenant Governor and acting Governor of the colony between 1826 and 1828. The acting Governor, who was later influential in the establishment of jury trial in New South Wales, obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in August 1827 and the first Charter of Justice was issued on 24 August 1827.{{cite book |last=Theal |first=George McCall |author-link=George McCall Theal |title=Records of the Cape Colony |date=1905 |publisher=William Clowes & Sons |volume=28 |location=London, UK |chapter=Crown Commission of Inquiry into the Administration of Justice in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope}}

Jury trial was brought into practical operation in 1828 and the 1831 Ordinance 84 laid down that criminal cases would be heard by a panel of nine, selected from males aged between 21 and 60, owning or renting property to a value of £1.17s (37 shillings) per annum or having liability for taxes of 30 shillings in Cape Town and 20 shillings outside the town. Black (i.e. non-white) jurors were not entirely excluded and sat occasionally.Kahn, E., South African Law Journal (1991), pp.672–87; SALJ (1992), pp.87–111, 307–318, 666–679; SALJ (1993), pp.322–337. This is not to imply, however, that juries did not operate in an oppressive manner towards the Black African and Asian residents of the Cape, whose participation in the jury lists was, in any event, severely limited by the property qualification.{{cite journal |last=Vogler |first=Richard |date=2001 |title=The International Development of the Jury: The Role of the British Empire |journal=Revue internationale de droit pénal |volume=72 |pages=525–550 |doi=10.3917/ridp.721.0525}} The property qualification was amended in 1831 and 1861 and, experimentally, a grand jury came into operation.

The grand jury was established for Cape Town alone.Cape Law Journal, 10 Cape L.J. p.216 (1893) It met quarterly. In 1842 it was recorded that it served a district of 50,000 inhabitants and in one quarterly session there were six presentments (1 homicide, 2 assaults, 1 robbery, 1 theft, 1 fraud).{{cite book |last=Wilkes |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Wilkes |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_xFVHAAAAYAAJ/page/n487/mode/2up?q=grand+jury |title=Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition |date=1845 |publisher=Lea & Blanchard |volume=V |location=Philadelphia |page=426}}

As elsewhere, the judge could use his charge to the grand jury to bring matters of concern to him to the attention of the public and the government.{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=George J. |title=The Grand Jury |date=1906 |publisher=George T. Bisel Co. |location=Philadelphia |page=124 |chapter=Part IV: How The Grand Jury Transacts Business and its Relation To The Court |chapter-url=https://constitution.org/2-Authors/gje/gj_04.htm}} In May 1879 Mr. Justice Fitzpatrick, returning from circuit in the northern and western parts of Cape Colony, gave a charge to the grand jury at the Criminal Sessions at Cape Town, in which, after congratulating them upon the lightness of the calendar, he observed there were indications in the country of a growing mutual bad feeling between the races, etc. This was reported in the Cape Argus and was a subject of a question to the government in the House of Commons in London.{{cite hansard|title=The Cape Colony — Mr. Justice Fitzpatrick — Question|house=House of Commons|date=19 June 1879|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1879/jun/19/the-cape-colony-mr-justice-fitzpatrick|column_start=169|column_end=171|speaker=Hon. Walter James|position=Member for Gateshead}}

The grand jury continued in operation until 1885, by which time the Cape was under responsible government, when it was abolished by Act 17 of 1885{{cite book |title=Statutes of the Cape of Good Hope, 1652–1895: Vol 1872–1886 |date=1895 |publisher=J.C. Juta |location=Cape Town}} of the Cape Parliament.

Grand juries were established in France in 1791 under the name jury d'accusation, but they were abolished with the introduction of the Code of Criminal Instruction in 1808.{{cite book |last=Forsyth |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2OkJAAAAIAAJ&q=1808 |title=History of Trial by Jury |publisher=Cockcroft |year=1878 |location=New York City |page=297}}

The jury law of 1791 created an eight-man jury d'accusation in each arrondissement (a subdivision of the departement) and a 12-man jury de jugement in each departement. In each arrondissement the procureur-syndic drew up a list of 30 jurors from the electoral roll every three months for the jury d'accusation. There was no public prosecutor or juge d'instruction. Instead the police or private citizens could bring a complaint to the Justice of the Peace established in each canton (a subdivision of the arrondissement). This magistrate interrogated the accused to determine whether grounds for prosecution existed and if so sent the case to the directeur du jury (the director of the jury d'accusation), who was one of the arrondissement's civil court judges, and who served in the post for six months on a rotating basis. He decided whether to dismiss the charges or, if not, whether the case was a délit (misdemeanour) or a crime (felony, i.e. imprisonable for 2 years or more). Délits went to the tribunal de police correctionnelle of the arrondissement, while for crimes the directeur de jury convoked the jury d'accusation of the arrondissement, in order to get an indictment. The directeur du jury drew up the bill of indictment (acte d'accusation) summarising the charges to be presented to the jury d'accusation. The directeur made a presentation to the jury in the absence of the accused and the jury heard the witnesses. The jury then decided by majority vote whether there were sufficient grounds for the case to go to the tribunal criminel of the departement. Between 1792 and 1795 there was no property qualification for jurors.{{cite book |last=Donovan |first=James |title=Juries and the Transformation of Criminal Justice in France in the 19th and 20th Centuries |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8078-3363-6 |at=Ch. 1}}

The functions of the jury d’accusation were prescribed in the law of 1791 passed by the Constituent Assembly and were maintained and re-enacted in the Code des Délits et des Peines of 3 Brumaire, Year 4 (25 October 1795) and this was the operative law until it was abolished in 1808.{{cite book |last=Oudot |first=Charles-François |title=Théorie du Jury |publisher=Joubert |year=1845 |location=Paris |page=327}} Special juries and special grand juries were originally defined in law, for cases thought to require more qualified jurors, but these were abolished in Year 8 (1799).{{cite book |title=Archives de Droit et de Legislation, Tome 5, 2nd Semestre |date=1841 |location=Bruxelles |page=83 |language=fr |chapter=Loi Belge du 15 Mai 1838 Relative au Jury Expliquée}}

Under the administration of the Sierra Leone Company, which began in 1792, the Governor and Council or any two members thereof, being also justices of the peace, held quarter sessions for the trial of offences committed within the colony. The process for indictment etc. was the same as the practice in England or as near as possible thereto. To effect this, they were empowered to issue their warrant or precept to the Sheriff, commanding him to summon a grand jury to sit at the court of quarter sessions. Grand juries continued in operation after the transfer to the colony to the Crown in 1807.{{cite book |last=George |first=Claude |url=https://archive.org/details/risebritishwest00georgoog/page/n162 |title=The Rise of British West Africa: Comprising the Early History of the Colony of Sierra Leone, Gambia, Lagos, Gold Coast, etc |publisher=Houlston & Sons |year=1904 |location=London |pages=146–147, 171}}

Governor Kennedy (1852–1854) was concerned that jurors were frustrating government policy by being biased in certain cases; in particular he felt that liberated Africans on the grand jury would never convict another liberated African on charges of owning or importing slaves.{{cite book |last=Walker |first=James W. St. G. |url=https://archive.org/details/blackloyalistsse0000walk/page/364 |title=The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780802074027 |pages=364–365 |url-access=registration}} He promulgated the Ordinance of 29 November 1853 which abolished the grand jury.House of Commons. Reports from Committees, Vol 5, Session 7 Feb-6 Jul 1865 Opposition was immediately mounted in Freetown. A public meeting launched a petition with 550 names to the Colonial Secretary in London, and the opposition declared that the Kennedy ordinance was a reproach upon the loyalty of the community. Grand juries have been considered one colonial body representative of local opinion and the Colonial Secretary's support for Kennedy upholding the abolition inspired a round of agitation for a local voice in government decision-making.

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