British Government Tries To Do Away With Juries In Fraud Trials (moved from ATSNN)

The British Government's Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, has recommended that the use of 'trial by jury' be scrapped for some fraud cases. Goldsmith claims that juries are incapable of understanding the complexity of the evidence given in such trials and that the length of the trials are too long for jurists to bare. The government wants judges alone to decide such cases. The measure is opposed by Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the British Bar Council. Goldsmith denies its a cost cutting exercise.



This is rightly being called "the thin end of the wedge". If the precedent for trials without a jury are created it can easily spread across the entire spectrum of criminal trials. Is this really what British society is heading towards?

Control orders already see British citizens detained indefinately with no trial or appeal. Now we have the government actively seeking trials without jury in which a single judge can pass sentence. This flies directly in the face of the judicial traditions of this country that have stood unchanged for hundreds of years. Our legal system was the basis for virtually all democratic nations around the world, now our government is betraying its integrity.

More wood for the fire Mr.Blair. Every move like this only stokes the fires of discontent in this country. Is a civil war what he is aiming for? He might just get one if he continues down this path of a police state.

[edit on 21/6/05 by subz]

You're right, it would set a precedent for criminal cases involving white collar crime - which basically means politicians and their business associates.

Funny how the same restrictions and laws are being pressed on the "coallition of the willing" countries, whether they need them or not. It makes me think there's a lot more to the plan.