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Great to hear @Joanna__Hardy discuss the importance of juries with @mrjamesob on @LBC. A thread on some of the key points...
. @Joanna__Hardy says there is a long queue in Crown court system for jury trials. But backlog was here long before we heard the word 'coronavirus'. 37,000 just before xmas. Pandemic + lockdown marginally added to it. Now 41,000 and suddenly it's an emergency.
. @Joanna__Hardy: not like we're reducing 12 diverse voices to 3 diverse voices. Lot of work being done to improve judicial diversity. But what's being mooted proposed to come in soon, not in 10 years when you've done all the work needed to make bench as diverse as it should be.
. @Joanna__Hardy says juries comprise 12 diverse voices, from different communities, cultures, religion, age, gender. Richness to that. Don't need a law degree to judge other human beings. Need to listen to evidence before you and determine which evidence you accept/don't accept.
. @Joanna__Hardy: solution to the backlog is money. Ministers need to go back to treasury and say what we did to the system is cut and cut to the bone. If we do that to the system, it can't withstand a crisis.
Asked whether sinister agenda behind the jury proposals, @Joanna__Hardy says right to say people would benefit from cutting juries out of equation. Buildings smaller = cheaper. Quicker to run trial with single judge/judge + 2 magistrates. Quicker the trial = less it costs.
Crucial point when @Joanna__Hardy says anyone could find themselves in court. Get in car, turn engine on, knock someone over + accused of dangerous driving. Go to nightclub, something happens. You need an audience to hear what happened. Best people to determine that is a jury.
