§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to enrol extra jurors for cases expected to last several months.
§ Mr. John PattenWe have no present plans to change the law in this respect, although we will keep it under review. A trial can generally proceed so long as nine jurors are still serving. Enlarging the jury beyond 12 at the outset would introduce complexity, and place a greater burden on the pool of jurors. The special procedures introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 1987 for handling serious and complex fraud trials (which the hon. Member may have particularly in mind) were designed to keep the proceedings before the jury as short as possible.