Opposition parties ally to defend jury trials

22 May 03
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are threatening to join forces in the House of Lords to scupper government plans to curtail jury trials. This followed a Commons vote on May 19 that slashed the government's majority to 72 after 34 rebel Labour

23 May 2003

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are threatening to join forces in the House of Lords to scupper government plans to curtail jury trials.

This followed a Commons vote on May 19 that slashed the government's majority to 72 after 34 rebel Labour MPs voted with the opposition for an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill.

Home Secretary David Blunkett wants to allow a jury to be replaced by a judge for complex fraud cases or where there is a danger of a jury being 'nobbled'.

But shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin argued that since minor cases are already handled by district judges without a jury, if major fraud cases were also dealt with by judges alone, the government would eventually say that juries should be dropped for cases 'in the middle'.

Blunkett said that the chief problem with complex fraud trials is not whether juries can understand the evidence but whether sufficient jurors can be found to sit through a lengthy case.

Both Letwin and Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes warned that the Bill would face a rough passage in the Lords.

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