‘The Law Commission of England and Wales is considering whether juryless trials could help improve rape conviction rates. All rape and attempted rape trials in England and Wales are currently held before a jury of 12 people, who listen to the evidence and decide unanimously whether the accused is innocent or guilty.’
Each Other, 12th June 2023
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘Non-jury trials will continue to be used in Northern Ireland, with the secretary of state saying the move is “regrettable” but necessary due to the security situation.’
BBC News, 25th April 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland has dropped a widely criticised plan to replace juries in some criminal trials with a judge and two magistrates.’
Legal Futures, 23rd July 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Secretary of State for Justice recently confirmed that the government is considering whether to introduce primary legislation to suspend jury trials for offences triable either way as a way to address the backlog of criminal cases arising from the public health crisis. This development has caused alarm amongst practitioners who might be hoping that Humphreys J was right when he said: “I cannot bring myself to believe that there are any persons other than the inmates of a lunatic asylum who would vote in favour of the abolition of trial by jury in serious criminal cases” (Do We Need a Jury? [1954] Crim LR 457).’
6 KBW College Hill, 30th June 2020
Source: blog.6kbw.com
‘Proposals to scrap juries for some trials to reduce court backlogs would remove the “only part of the criminal justice process” proven not to discriminate against minority ethnic groups, a legal expert has warned.’
Each Other, 9th July 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘The backlog of untried cases in the criminal justice system – which has ballooned during lockdown – could take a decade to clear, an official watchdog has warned.’
The Guardian, 30th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
“The Sunday Times has won a long-running libel trial brought by an East End businessman it accused of running a vast criminal empire in London.”
The Guardian, 4th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“There appears to be an emerging consensus on Halsbury’s Law Exchange that jury trials are a good thing – see previous blogs here and here. This may be so, but the four mainstream arguments commonly advanced to support jury trials, and repeated in previous articles, do not stand serious scrutiny.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 16th May 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“You can never write too much about the importance of trial by jury, particularly since there are moves afoot to restrict it. This month is no exception as Professor Richard Dawkins advocated a scientific resolution for criminal proceedings in The New Statesman, and The Times published an article by David Pannick QC effectively supporting the removal of jury trial in less serious cases.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th February 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“Welcome to the Without Prejudice special with Professor Gary Slapper, Director of New York University, London and Global Professor at NYU. We look at the Jury and proposals to restrict the right to trial by jury, meddling European judges and Gary Slapper’s most entertaining new book…. ‘More weird cases’.”
Charon QC, 22nd January 2012
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“Ministers are considering plans to take away defendants’ rights to jury trial, according to the Magistrates’ Association.”
The Guardian, 16th January 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Read MPs and peers’ verdict on the government’s plans to reform libel law.”
The Guardian, 19th October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Libel trials by jury should be abolished for all but exceptional cases involving public figures, a parliamentary committee has recommended.”
The Guardian, 19th October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A London judge has made legal history by becoming the first to deliver a verdict on her own after discharging a jury. Recorder Caroline English performed the unprecedented role at Wood Green crown court because a friend of the accused was alleged to have been in regular contact with a woman juror and have passed information on voting intentions.”
The Guardian, 14th July 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A judge’s unprecedented attempt to deliver a verdict on her own after allegations of jury-tampering in a fraud trial may be referred to the supreme court.”
The Guardian, 15th June 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Joanne Fraill’s messages reveal an attitude towards jury service that would alarm even supporters of the system.”
The Guardian, 15th June 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina v Twomey and others (No 2) [2011] EWCA Crim 8; [2011] WLR (D) 10
“The question whether a trial should proceed as a trial by judge and jury or trial by judge alone was concerned exclusively with the mode of trial, and the process of deciding whether the guilt of the defendant was established was entirely distinct from the question of how the tribunal responsible for making that decision was constituted.”
WLR Daily, 21st January 2011
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Proposals to scrap jury trials for lesser offences were today criticised by the Law Society as ‘entirely wrong’.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd November 2010
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Scrapping the right to a jury trial for lesser offences that ‘clog up the courts’ could save £30 million a year in prosecutors’ costs alone, the Government’s victims’ commissioner said today.”
The Independent, 3rd November 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The lord chief justice emphasised the importance of trial by jury last week as the Court of Appeal overturned two High Court decisions that trials could proceed without a jury.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 29th July 2010
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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