Abolition of jury trials "is attack on justice"
06/22/05
The abolition of the right to jury trial in serious fraud cases is an attack on 800-years of British justice, the Government has been warned. Civil liberty groups, lawyers and opposition leaders all pledged to resist proposals, announced yesterday, that would allow judges to sit alone in cases considered too complex for ordinary jurors to understand. Announcing the latest curb on jury trials, the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, said that for some time it had become apparent that justice was not being done in some serious fraud cases. He said he wanted to end a system of 'two-tier justice' where it was easy to prosecute social benefit cheats but difficult to try City fraudsters because of the complexity, expense and length of prosecutions...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=648751
from Independent [UK]
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
The abolition of the right to jury trial in serious fraud cases is an attack on 800-years of British justice, the Government has been warned. Civil liberty groups, lawyers and opposition leaders all pledged to resist proposals, announced yesterday, that would allow judges to sit alone in cases considered too complex for ordinary jurors to understand. Announcing the latest curb on jury trials, the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, said that for some time it had become apparent that justice was not being done in some serious fraud cases. He said he wanted to end a system of 'two-tier justice' where it was easy to prosecute social benefit cheats but difficult to try City fraudsters because of the complexity, expense and length of prosecutions...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=648751
from Independent [UK]
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 22. Jun, 10:51
