The Law Commission of New Zealand have announce an online public consultation looking at alternatives to the jury trial: Alternative models for prosecuting and trying criminal cases.
Some of the ‘alternatives’ posited include lone judges sitting with ‘semi-professional’ jurors. Some of the suggestions have already come under fire :
The Law Commission doesn’t seem to be proposing how to help juries do their job better. Nor does its current brief seem to include suggesting ways to reduce the potential for miscarriages of justice. In the ongoing pursuit of efficiency and cost reduction, it wants to get rid of juries altogether. This proposal has to be rejected.
see full story here…
Also, see here… for a comprehensive news report, as well as:
‘Review on criminal trial process’
‘Law Commission suggests ‘semi-professional’ jurors’
and a radio report at: ‘Should criminal trials be less confrontational for victims?
It would be interesting to find out the outcome of the Commission’s consultation. Semi-professional jurors? whatever that means!