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NLJ this week: A return to jury unanimity?

05 July 2024
Issue: 8078 / Categories: Legal News , In Court , Procedure & practice , Discrimination
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Juries capture the imaginations of film-makers and philosophers alike. What happens when prejudice creeps in? Can you guarantee fairness? What if a juror goes rogue?

In this week’s NLJ, Michael Zander KC reflects on a report that calls for the abolition of majority jury verdicts.

The report was published in May by APPEAL, the working name of the Centre for Criminal Appeals. Zander writes: ‘Their challenging thesis regarding the history is that the introduction of majority verdicts by Roy Jenkins in the Criminal Justice Act 1967 was classist and racist.’

In this fascinating article, Zander, emeritus professor, LSE, looks at the history and cultural landscape informing Jenkins’ introduction of majority verdicts. He considers whether he agrees or disagrees with the APPEAL report. Should there be a return to jury unanimity? Read Professor Zander’s verdict.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

mfg Solicitors—Brian Hession

mfg Solicitors—Brian Hession

Birmingham commercial property team bolstered by partner hire

STEP—Sara Morgan

STEP—Sara Morgan

Fieldfisher director re-elected as deputy chair of England Wales committee

Osborne Clarke—Andrew Eaton

Osborne Clarke—Andrew Eaton

Restructuring and insolvency expert joins as partner

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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