Sir Keir Starmer co-authored a report which found that throwing out jury trials led to wrongful convictions in Northern Ireland during the 1990s.A 1992 report, co-written by the Prime Minister, concludes that the removal of juries in Northern Ireland during the Troubles increased the risk of wrongful convictions. The document, produced by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, warned that the judge-only Diplock court system made it harder to properly test evidence and raise reasonable doubt. This revelation, uncovered by the Telegraph, poses as threat to the Justice Secretary, David Lammy’s proposal to limit jury trials in England and Wales to reduce backlog in the courts.
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This is another blow to Mr Lammy’s efforts, as he has already been made to assign a place on the public bill committee to a rebel Labour MP, to prevent opposing members from voting against the reform. Sir Keir said earlier this year that slashing jury trials was a “fundamental argument of principle” in order serve justice to victims. This is a change of tune from the early-90s report that the Prime Minister help write, as it concludes the absence of juries collapsed the separation between judging facts and applying the law. It wrote: “The state of the law is such that it enables wrongful convictions to occur in the absence of any procedural or judicial error.”MORE TO FOLLOW…
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