HC Deb 14 July 1978 vol 953 c846W
Mr. Kenneth Clarke

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government propose to seek to remove the right to elect for trial by jury for breathalyser offences; and, if so, when.

Dr. Summerskill

Refusal, without reasonable excuse, to provide a specimen of breath has always been a purely summary offence. The right to claim jury trial for the offence of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit is removed by the Criminal Law Act 1977, the relevant provisions of which come into force on 17th July.