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Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/n..._by_expansion_of_the_internet.php

The age-old right to a trial by jury is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because of the expansion of the internet, a legal expert has warned.

Gerard Sinclair, chief executive of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), has suggested a debate is required on the future validity of juries in certain cases, as trials become increasingly complex and background information is available on the internet at the touch of a button.

Mr Sinclair also suggested that the commission's powers might need to evolve in the future to include access to materials and witnesses in foreign jurisdictions.

The body responsible for making the final decision on whether cases should be referred back to the appeal court has looked at some 1091 applications since its inception on April 1, 1999. It has broad powers in Scotland to force public authorities and individuals to hand over documents and agree to interviews, and has referred 83 cases back to the courts for a fresh appeal, including the Lockerbie case.

But it has no such jurisdiction abroad and, while investigating the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Libyan serving 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988, staff had to spend two years negotiating a complex agreement with Maltese authorities to give them the power to compel witnesses to be interviewed.

In advance of its 10th anniversary conference later this month, Mr Sinclair told The Herald: "Last month, a jury trial in the US was abandoned after it was discovered that the jury had been accessing information about the accused on the internet. This could become a major issue in the future for Scotland and the rest of the UK.

"In the past, the internet was not so easily accessible. We may need to give further consideration to the use of juries in certain situations, both in very complex or technical trials and when there is 24/7 access to background information.

"The jury system in Scotland has served us well for many years, but I think that the use of a lay jury could become an issue in future - particularly as trials take longer and become increasingly more complicated.

"It's not for someone like me to say that one thing or another should happen, but I would be happy to see a debate on these issues."

At present, it is up to individual judges to direct jurors regarding the limits of their roles. Jurors in Scotland are no longer kept in hotels until the case has been decided.

Jurors are not supposed to seek information outside court and are required to reach a verdict based only on facts the judge decides are admissible.

The forthcoming Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill is expected to look at whether the commission needs additional powers in relation to investigations covering foreign countries.

"The Lockerbie case highlighted certain weaknesses in our statutory powers, in that our jurisdiction is restricted to Scotland," said Mr Sinclair. "We are not asking for extra powers per se but, if in the future we get more cases coming through which involve foreign jurisdictions, or access to foreign witnesses or materials, then we may need more powers to deal with this.

"In future, cross-border, international crime and internet crime may prove to be much bigger factors and all justice bodies, including an organisation such as the commission, require to review their powers in light of such developments."

Seems to me he just wants to play Judge & Jury
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Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

Seems we (Scots) are now referred to as the "feeble little nation":

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/TV--historian--.5205447.jp#3968665

David Starkey also hit out at Robert Burns, describing him as a "boring provincial poet", and dismissed bagpipes as "awful" on BBC's Question Time.

Some colourful comments though on the link above
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scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 526

Now if only all those people who felt the need to comment so many times on the comment page would get all irate about what really matters eh? 249 posts on that topic. Wish we could get same amount of posts on something really worthwhile.

Action is needed to show that us Scots fight for what we believe in. A war of words has its place but action is the magic word as my wee mammy always says.