May 7, 2021
RLC member, Professor Laura Hoyano (Oxford University) appeared in The Times for a piece exploring whether the right to trial by jury should soon be a thing of the past.
With the Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission calling for juries to be required to give reasons for their verdicts, Professor Hoyano commented specifically on the Canadian model of defence election of trial by judge alone. Professor Hoyano practised as a barrister in Canada. She suggested:
If defendants want reasons for the verdict…then England should consider adopting the Canadian system, where the defence can elect trial by judge alone instead of having a jury “foisted” on them. “That model…has worked without any controversy for many decades and is popular with defence advocates without diminishing trial by jury.”
Professor Hoyano also argues against having the right to trial by jury removed in categories of cases such as rape.
Read article here: [The Times]