The right to trial by jury is inviolate. The right to trial by jury in civil cases is “deeply rooted” in New Jersey’s history and “predates” the founding of our Republic, as early as the Charter on Fundamental Laws of 1676. The first New Jersey Constitution was ratified on July 2, 1776, and declared that “the inestimable right of trial by jury shall remain confirmed, as part of the law of this colony, without repeal for ever.” The New Jersey Constitutions of 1844 and 1947 reaffirmed that “the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.”
The right to vote and the right to trial by jury are the twin pillars of a democratic society. The ballot box and the jury box are “the ultimate examples of self-government.”
