Jury Intimidation
In his report, Lord Diplock, cited two primary reasons for his determination that jury trials should be suspended, 1) danger of perverse acquittals, and, 2) jurors had been threatened, "of which we have had ample evidence". Two years later Lord Gardiner’s review, of the removal of Trial by Jury, unconvincingly attempts to bolster Diplock’s findings as follows;
We are convinced on the evidence that we have received, that if juries were to be reintroduced for scheduled offences, their verdicts would still be subject to the influences of intimidation, or the fear of it. We have no evidence of this or of perversity in juries...
The Gardiner Report found that “no evidence” existed on which the removal of the jury was based but concluded that non-jury trials should continue.
Read more about this topic: Diplock Courts
Famous quotes containing the word jury:
“To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is like robbing the ostracized of all self-respect, of credit in the market place, of recompense in the world of work, of a voice in choosing those who make and administer the law, a choice in the jury before whom they are tried, and in the judge who decides their punishment.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)