header-logo header-logo

06 March 2008 / Julian Samiloff
Issue: 7311 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Procedure & practice , Profession
printer mail-detail

The bulwark of liberty

Will someone rid me of this meddlestone jury?Now the coroner's jury is under attack, says Julian Samiloff

In the matter of the importance of juries, I tend to side with Sir Patrick Devlin’s comment that “the first object of any tyrant in Whitehall would be to make Parliament utterly subservient to his will; and the next would be to overthrow or diminish trial by jury, for no tyrant could afford to leave a subject’s freedom in the hands of twelve of his countrymen. So that trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than one wheel of the constitution: it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives” (Trial by Jury, 3rd Edn 1966). The lord chief justice in Bushell’s Case 124 Eng Rep 1006 stated that the jury was “the bulwark of liberty”.

 

CORONER’S JURIES

Since 1927 a coroner’s jury has only been necessary in a minority of inquests. Juries are currently required under the Coroners Act 1988, s

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft strengthens Scottish real estate capabilitywith partner appointment

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Brendan Ryan as partner in Public Law Projects team

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers welcomes five new barristers

NEWS
Pro bono is celebrating a silver anniversary, with initiatives putting businesses and students at the heart of access to justice
Choosing the wrong expert can cost a clinical negligence claimant more than their case
Judges risk weakening their own independence by staying silent over government reforms, a leading public lawyer argues
A discount on damages does not automatically mean an equivalent haircut for legal costs in military deafness claims
Police powers targeting concealed identities at protests come with procedural conditions that could determine whether prosecutions succeed
back-to-top-scroll