A jury typically consists of 6 to 12 jurors in federal civil cases. For criminal cases and many other jurisdictions, 12 jurors are common. Some trials might start with more than 12 jurors due to the inclusion of alternate jurors, who can replace a juror if needed before the main evidence is presented. The size of juries can vary by country and type of case, with some civil juries being as few as 6 and criminal juries traditionally having 12 members, and in Scotland, criminal juries have 15 members. Summary:
- Federal civil juries: 6 to 12 jurors, usually with a unanimous verdict required.
- Criminal juries: Usually 12 jurors, sometimes up to 14 including alternates before evidence begins.
- Some civil juries may have fewer than 12 jurors, commonly 6 to 8.
- Scotland uses 15 jurors for criminal trials.
Thus, the number of jurors in a jury generally ranges from 6 to 12 in most systems, with some variations depending on case type and jurisdiction.