Juryless Trials

Donald Findlay KC has accused the Scottish government of undermining the justice system for mere "vote-gathering". His comments come in response to proposals from Scottish ministers to pilot juryless trials for rape cases and to eliminate the 'not proven' verdict.

The Criminal Justice committee is calling for views on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which includes proposals for a pilot of juryless trials. The Scottish government bill aims to improve the experiences of complainers and witnesses within Scotland’s justice system

Advocates cannot act in the juryless trials pilot without the participation of solicitors, contrary to a rumour endorsed by politicians that betrays "complete ignorance" of the legal system, a senior lawyer has told Scottish Legal News. Vice-Dean of Faculty, Ronnie Renucci KC, said that, since

Scottish Legal News editor Kapil Summan speaks to historian and former Supreme Court justice, Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption, at his home in London. They discuss criminal reforms; the limits of law; the decline in legislative drafting in the UK; free speech and the need to stand up to the new cult

Scotland's juryless trials pilot has been criticised by retired judges south of the border. Lady Hale, formerly president of the Supreme Court, and Wendy Joseph, a former Old Bailey judge, said the scheme may undermine faith in the legal system. Their remarks came during a discussion at the Hay

Solicitor Aamer Anwar has criticised plans for juryless trials as well as former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's comments over them. Last week, Ms Sturgeon claimed that even before “the ink was dry on the draft legislation and without a single word of debate… fixed positions had been s

The Law Commission of England and Wales has today published proposals for the reform of sexual offence prosecutions, including introducing juryless trials. Similar proposals in Scotland, predicated on research that did not use actual juries, have incurred the wrath of the legal profession in recent

A former judge of the Supreme Court has expressed concern about the compatibility of Scottish government proposals for juryless rape trials with the independence of the judiciary. Lord Hope of Craighead has said he is "very uneasy" with clause 40 of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotlan

The Dundee criminal defence agents met on Wednesday 3 May, and it was a unanimous decision that they will not be taking part in the Scottish government's planned juryless trials pilot scheme. After this meeting I noted numerous Bar Associations and Faculties doing the same thing. On Tuesday 9 May, w

Defence counsel Tony Lenehan KC writes that juryless trials are being driven by ideology rather than evidence.  After reading the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill I was disappointed but not surprised. I am disappointed at the many politicians, lobbyists, academics and

Lawyers in Glasgow and Edinburgh have voted to boycott the proposed juryless trials pilot in rape cases. Members of the Edinburgh Bar Association voted overwhelmingly to boycott the measure contained in the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill should they come to fruition.

Dear Editor, Douglas Cusine writes that there is “no evidence” that jurors subscribe to rape myths. He states that the “only way one could get ‘evidence’ would be to sit in during a jury’s deliberations, or interview jurors afterwards” and rightly points out

Scottish Legal News is pleased to report that Lord Uist's thoughtful article on the constitutionality or otherwise of juryless trials has been widely followed up and reported in The Times, The Scotsman, The Herald, The Press and Journal, the BBC, The Independent and STV, bringing this important lega

The Scottish government's controversial plans to introduce juryless trials have come in for yet more criticism. A pilot project in which judges alone would determine the guilt or innocence of people accused of rape would require the consent of the accused to participate. Lawyers are, unsurprisingly,

Here is your starter for 10. What do the following have in common: “Moorov, concert, fraud.” Cases involving these elements may cause more difficulty for jurors than say, a straight-forward assault. Whatever the complexity, we do allow the most difficult cases to be dealt with by a jury,