Under proposals to overhaul the criminal justice system, Home Affairs Minister Kristina Moore has put forward proposals which include allowing prosecutors to call for a retrial in the event of a hung jury.
However, concerns have been raised by the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, and Commissioner Sir Michael Birt about how this would work in practice. They argued that a lack of resources and media publicity surrounding the original trial would make staging retrials complicated.
Deputy Moore, speaking at a recent Scrutiny panel hearing to discuss the proposals, said: ‘Currently, if a jury of 12 cannot reach a majority verdict of ten, then a defendant is acquitted.
‘The question is whether that is a good administration of justice if in those cases there was an opportunity to go to a retrial.
‘We do not feel it would be a burden on the courts in terms of time because it would be an extraordinary event were it to occur.’
Attorney General Robert MacRae said that the length of time a jury is asked to deliberate for is much longer in other jurisdictions. He added that the other provisions within the proposals – such as a stronger outlining of the defence and prosecution cases should lead to fewer jury trials, with either the prosecution dropping the case or the defendant pleading guilty.
When asked whether the prosecution should have a second go if they could notconvince ten of 12 jurors, the Attorney General said: ‘That is obviously a valid argument.
‘In response, one would say all those other jurisdictions in the first instance require juries to come together and form a verdict on which they are all agreed. In England and Wales the jury must have a least two hours to try to reach a verdict on which they are all agreed and only after that time can they return a verdict on which ten are agreed.’
Deputy Moore added that jurors for retrials being influenced by media coverage of the original trial should not be an issue.
‘As a former journalist, I have experience of reporting on a trial which was lengthy and high profile,’ she said. ‘Towards the end the process was halted and a retrial did occur.
‘If the media are doing their job properly they should be reporting the facts. I don’t see that would in any way cloud a person’s perspective in the cases and mean they could assist if there was a retrial.’
The proposals are due to come back before the States for final approval on Tuesday 20 March. Deputies Sam Mézec and Richard Renouf were sitting on the panel.
