§ 10. Mr. Archerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will appoint a committee to inquire into the workings of the jury system in civil and criminal cases, respectively, with a view to the introduction of appropriate legislation.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsRecommendations about eligibility for jury service and related matters have already been made by the Departmental Committee on Jury Service. I am considering whether any action is necessary on other aspects of the jury system.
§ Mr. ArcherAs the Departmental Committee expressly pointed out that it was not inquiring into the merits of the jury system or its efficiency as a matter of ensuring justice, would my right hon. Friend agree that its mere antiquity should not protect it from an inquiry into these aspects?
§ Mr. JenkinsIts mere antiquity should certainly not protect it from an inquiry nor should we always shelter behind an inquiry in all circumstances. I am considering whether we can or should take action, while preserving the jury system, to make it more efficient.
§ Mr. HoggWill the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the almost religious veneration with which a jury has been regarded hitherto is beginning to disappear, even in the minds of the judiciary?
§ Mr. JenkinsI should have thought that the judiciary was perhaps leading in bringing about this disappearance. I am certainly paying close attention to what they, and to what lay members of the public, have to say.
§ Mr. Sydney SilvermanWould my right hon. Friend bear in mind when he is pursuing these investigations into whether legislation is necessary to amend our jury system in a way that there are a great many people, in the House and outside of it, who do not share the rather odd view of the Lord Chief Justice that normally a jury is wrong when it acquits and right when it convicts?
§ Mr. JenkinsI will endeavour to bear all considerations in mind when studying this matter.