§ 35. Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to bring forward legislation to reintroduce jury trials in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. StanleyTrial by jury already takes place in all contested cases in the Crown court involving non-scheduled offences and in those contested cases involving scheduled offences which have been "certified out" by the Attorney-General.
316WLast year the list of scheduled offences which the Attorney-General can "certify out" was extended but, because of the risk of intimidation of jurors and perverse verdicts by juries, we do not believe that it is possible at present to reintroduce jury trials generally for scheduled offences.