What's happening?

"Not guilty!" The man in the dock smiles. He walks out into the sunshine. 

But most of the 12 people on the juryA group of people who are chosen to look at evidence about a crime and decide what the facts are. think he DID break into the house and steal the jewellery. They just cannot be 100% sure. 

Different countries around the world have different ways of deciding whether or not someone is guilty of a crime, and how or whether they should be punished.

In England, when someone is accused of a crime, 12 ordinary people are asked to decide if they are "guilty" or "not guilty". If they are sure someone has done a crime, they choose "guilty". If they have reasonable doubt about the case, they must choose "not guilty". 

But what happens when the jury thinks someone probably did do a crime, but there is a small chance they did not? They must still choose "not guilty". In the eyes of the system, they are completely innocentAn innocent person has done nothing wrong. . 

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Meanwhile, some people are found guilty of crimes they actually did not do. 

Now, some think the system should change. In Scotland, there is a third option for juries: "not proven". If a jury thinks someone has probably done something wrong, but they are not 100% sure, they can call a case "not proven". The person is not punished, but they are not declaredClearly said. innocent either. 

Should there be more options for juries?

Yes! Juries have a huge decision to make - and very few cases are black and white. There should be more options to make the system fair. 

No! Having many options would be very confusing and may lead to juries never saying someone is "guilty" or "not-guilty". And Scotland may soon be getting rid of the "not proven" option.