HC Deb 03 March 1977 vol 927 cc269-70W
Mr. Lawrence

asked the Attorney-General what proportion of criminal trials were stopped by the trial judge because there was no case to go to a jury, in each of the five years up to the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 and in each of the years since.

The Attorney-General

The statistics relating to the work of the Crown Court have included the information asked for only since April 1976. In the period from 1st April to 31st December 1976, of all defendants in the Crown Court who pleaded not guilty to all counts on the indictment, 11 per cent. were acquitted on the judge's direction.

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