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Trial by jury key to justice system
18 Jun 2009The principle that defendants in criminal cases should be tried by a jury of their peers is one of the most fundamental in English law and dates back nearly 800 years.
Although there are modern exceptions - notably Diplock courts in Northern Ireland - today's ruling that a judge can deliver the verdict in a criminal trial paves the way for a legal first in England and Wales.
The jury system, in which "twelve good men and true" sit in judgment, is by no means perfect, but is regarded as superior to the alternatives and an essential bastion against the power of the state.
Magna Carta, the charter of liberties signed by King John in 1215, set out that individuals should be protected against arbitrary force by the state.
It said a man could be deprived of his liberty only by the "lawful judgment of his peers".
Attempts to restrict trial by jury are fiercely resisted, but the 2003 Criminal Justice Act allowed for trials without juries in fraud cases and those where there was a danger of jury tampering.
The fraud provisions were introduced after a string of expensive, high profile cases involving complex frauds failed to come to guilty verdicts but faced strong Parliamentary opposition and were never brought in to force.
The Act requires evidence of a "real and present danger" that jury tampering will take place before the jury can be removed.
Today the Court of Appeal rejected the alternative - that a jury should sit but be given police protection - saying the families of jurors would not be protected.
The court also said would be "totally unfair" to impose the burden of police protection on the jurors.
Assessing that the strict criteria for a non-jury trial was fulfilled, the judges said: "The right to trial by jury is so deeply entrenched in our constitution that, unless express statutory language indicates otherwise, the highest possible forensic standard of proof is required to be established before the right is removed. That is the criminal standard."
Diplock courts were introduced in Northern Ireland in 1973, to combat jury intimidation by paramilitary groups.
The Government is planning to phase them out, but recently announced plans to retain them for at least another year because of the ongoing terror threat.
