Last edited by Dudley Clarke (2014-06-04 17:33:20)
Meanwhile, the secret courts are now sitting in session......
/\ how do you know?
Well put summary but there is nothing new in it. It is inevitable that cost-cutting alone will lead to the abolition of trial by jury and it will all begin with the restriction of trial by jury to fewer offences than now; then still fewer and then none at all and modern Britain will have thrown away the greatest security against injustice that we ever had in relation to accusations of a criminal kind. All will forget that things worth having are worth paying for.
Jefferson was plainly right: juries can do as they see fit; they can even reject directions on the law when considering their verdict. Very few jurors ever know that a jury can stop a case in favour of a defendant and acquit, at any stage of the trial, after the close of the prosecution evidence. They do not even have to wait for the judge's directions. That's real 'people power' but the legal system ensures that the right is not even known, let alone exercised.
Last edited by NJS (2014-06-05 16:02:36)