Save trial by jury
Lord Denning noted that “Trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than one wheel of the constitution: it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives.”
He was correct. It is one of the basic rights that protect us from overweeing authority or capricious injustice. The resort to 12 good persons and true is a last-ditch refuge to the opinions of ordinary citizens.
Yet David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, seeks to abolish this ancient right that takes its roots back to the Magna Carta in 12.15. Fortunately, there’s an increasing effort to stop him.
This is a cause that deserves to succeed.
Madsen Pirie