Justice - Trial without Jury
WORKERS, JULY 2009 ISSUE
The government is destroying yet another fundamental liberty, in force since Magna Carta.
The Lord Chief Justice has ruled that the trial of four men accused of an armed robbery at Heathrow in 2004 must be heard by a judge sitting alone. This follows consistent government efforts to bring in judge-only trials for special offences and circumstances.
The trial would be the first crown court case in England and Wales to be heard by a judge alone using powers under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which came into force in July 2007.