BLUE-RIBBON JURY

also called special jury, or struck jury a group, chosen from the citizenry of a district, that has special qualifications to try a complex or important case. The blue-ribbon jury is intended to overcome the problems of ordinary juries in interpreting complex technical or commercial questions. If an antitrust suit involved merger, acquisition, holding companies, and restraint of trade, for example, a group of qualified economic experts might be summoned. In the United States blue-ribbon juries are provided for by statutes, the terms varying by jurisdiction. Under some statutes, the blue-ribbon jury is available only in civil cases; under others, in criminal cases, too. In either situation, this jury is ordered by the court on the motion of one of the litigants. Under some statutes the blue-ribbon jury is an absolute right. The selection is similar to that for an ordinary trial jury, but the lists of potential jurors contain only specially qualified persons. Although the origin of the blue-ribbon jury is uncertain, it was clearly in use under William III of England (reigned 16891702). Complexity was not the only reason for the blue-ribbon jury. When the sheriff (who impanelled juries) was suspected of bias, this special jury was invoked as a safeguard. By placing important persons on the jury, the court prevented intimidation. At present the blue-ribbon jury is seldom used. One problem in this form of trial is that the jurors' expertise may colour their perceptions. Medical experts trying a case involving a doctor, for example, may be biased, consciously or unconsciously, in his favour. The more common solutions to the increasing complexity of litigation have been greater use of expert witnesses and assignment of cases to quasi-judicial administrative agencies.