17 November 2006

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Non-jury fraud trial bill introduced

Non-jury fraud trial bill introduced

New legislation to enable the most serious and complex fraud trials to be heard by a judge alone was published today in the Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill.

The Government is committed to rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the law abiding majority.

At present, in some of the most serious and complicated fraud cases, it is not possible for defendants to be tried on charges that adequately reflect the full scale of the accusations against them. This is because in cases that involve a multitude of different offences and defendants, it is necessary to limit the amount of evidence that is put before a jury.

In spite of attempts to keep trials within reasonable grounds, complex and serious cases can often drag on for months, which imposes an intolerable burden on jurors. It also means that juries are not properly representative as not many people can afford to give up their normal lives for so long.

At times these trials collapse, wasting millions of pounds and failing to ensure justice for victims.

Existing legislation (section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003) allows the prosecution in a complex and serious fraud case to apply to the judge for the trial to take place without a jury. However, the Act requires that these provisions cannot be implemented until an affirmative resolution is passed by both Houses. The Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill would pave the way for its implementation by removing the requirement for an affirmative resolution. It would also require the application and the trial itself to be dealt with by a High Court judge if the application is successful.

Home Office Minister Joan Ryan said:

"Our criminal justice system needs to have the tools to deal effectively and fairly with all kinds of crime. There are a few fraud trials that are so serious and complicated that it is impracticable to bring the defendants to trial in front of a jury on charges that reflect what is alleged against them. This does nothing to ensure justice for victims.

"Let me be clear, trial by jury remains at the heart of the criminal justice system, but it is not right that the greater the scale and complexity of a fraud, the less likelihood there is of a successful prosecution. We cannot accept a double standard of easy-to-prosecute petty frauds and unprosecutable major frauds."

Solicitor General Mike O'Brien said:

"This Bill aims to redress the current imbalance between easy to prosecute "blue collar" crimes and major "white collar" crimes, which too often never get to court or are abandoned after substantial costs have been incurred.

"Our trial system requires oral explanation of documents and in the most complex fraud trials there can be thousands of pages of documents so trials can last months or even for a year or more. They impose a huge burden on individual jurors. And there are always problems getting a cross-section of people who can afford to do jury service for so long.

"Trial by a judge will only be appropriate for a small number of cases, about a half dozen exceptionally long, complex and serious fraud cases each year. It will enable the full criminality of these serious fraud cases to be exposed in court, and it will give our criminal justice system the tools it needs to deal properly with this major crime."

Notes to Editors:

1. The Bill amends section 43 by adding a requirement that applications for non-jury trial under that section, and any non-jury trials resulting from such applications, should be heard by a judge of the High Court.

2. Between 2002 and 2005 there were 26 trials that lasted over six month, eight of which lasted over 12 months.

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