Labour prepared to abandon principle of fair trials
The Government have announced that Juries will be abolished in complex fraud trials. The Attorney General will unveil plans to enact a change in the law that will allow a single judge to sit on complex fraud trials. The practice of trying defendants by a panel of 12 jurors stretches back 800 years.Commenting on the Government's announcement, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Mark Oaten MP said "Yet again Labour seem prepared to abandon the principle of fair trials and justice that have served this country well for decades. The trial by jury is at the heart of our judicial system. For complex trials like fraud it should be possible to create banks of jurors with the skills required to deal with these cases."
