Juries not to blame for Unwieldy and Costly Fraud Trials - Bar
21 June 2005
Government moves to abolish juries in long fraud trials were rejected today by the Bar Council as 'justice lite for white-collar crooks'.
The Bar Council, which represents barristers who prosecute and defend in criminal cases, also said that juries were not to be blamed for the length and cost of long fraud trials.
Chairman Guy Mansfield QC said:
'Public confidence in juries is consistently high. People trust juries. The same cannot be said for many other parts of the justice system. To abolish juries is therefore a retrograde step. It will send the wrong signal to the public, namely that white-collar criminals will not face a full-blown trial by their peers, and instead will be treated to a lesser form of "justice lite".
'This is unacceptable for people who bankrupt corporations, raid pension funds and destroy jobs for personal gain.
'Juries are able to understand the issues in serious fraud, which boil down to a question of dishonesty.
'Many other types of serious criminal trial deal with complex and technical evidence, for example ballistics, DNA or other forensic evidence.
'Juries do not contribute to trial length or complexity. The real question is why the prosecution authorities are mounting over-ambitious multi-handed trials that run out of control.
'The outgoing Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, has introduced welcome new court rules to curb trial length in future, which will prevent any further leviathan cases.'
Guy Mansfield added:
'The Bar Council will oppose any erosion of the ancient right to trial by jury for any serious criminal case.
'This measure smacks of the thin end of the wedge for jury trial, and we will lobby Parliament to reject the measure when put to it for a vote.'
