The Fraud (Trials Without a Jury) Bill 2007 was a proposed Act of Parliament introduced by the United Kingdom government. Its intention was to abolish trials by jury in complex fraud cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by amending section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The Bill was given its First Reading in the House of Commons on 16 November 2006. In a highly unusual move it was blocked by the House of Lords using a delaying tactic in March 2007. Lord Kingsland said:
On the substance of the matter, as your Lordships are well aware, jury trial has been a central component in the conduct of all serious criminal trials for about the past 700 years. Its contribution to the preservation of the liberty of the individual, and to the legitimacy of Government, is quite incalculable.
Famous quotes containing the words fraud and/or bill:
“He saw, he wish’d, and to the prize aspir’d.
Resolv’d to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when success a lover’s toil attends,
Few ask, if fraud or force attain’d his ends.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“I am succeeding very well so far with my legging, but it is a very mean business for a man that has been well brought up to engage in. It is the only way to get a bill from Cincinnati through, so it must be done.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)