Has the time come for the Houses of Parliament to abolish a trial by Jury, so that all Crown Court trials are heard by a Judge alone?

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Law - Criminal process, Criminology, Law Enforcement, City University London (The City law School), course: LLM Criminal Litigation, language: English, abstract: There are well-founded arguments in favour of a jury trial and the idea that the jury is to preserve democracy would remain favourable with the great majority. However, a jury trial is not without its flaws and it is apparent that a clear argument can be made to the contrary, that a jury is somewhat questionable. Those concerns on the one hand and those benefits on the other hand cannot be ignored any more. Should the UK continue to uphold a trial by jury? What would it mean for the Criminal Justice system if we continue to uphold a trial by jury? If the accused is tride by a jury that¿s not fit for purpose can we really say justice has been done? The author James Michael Corbett discusses the arguments to set out why UK should no longer try a defendant by a jury. For that, he not only describes the repeal of section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act, he also points out issues within a jury trial to later debate about its further use in the UK. Corbett provides a detailed level of knowledge and understanding into the workings of the jury system within the Crown court. The book is a real benefit to anyone who is interested in law or who is thinking of entering the legal profession.