§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Attorney-General what considerations led him to exclude the guidelines on jury checking from the Juries Bill 1974; and when he now intends to enact them in statutory form.
§ The Attorney-General:The considerations were (a) that the Juries Act 1974 is a consolidating Act and accordingly could not have included the guidelines; (b) that the guidelines are a means of controlling an administrative practice which is inappropriate for legislation. The Government have no intention of enacting the guidelines.
§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Attorney-General in relation to the 25 jury checks mentioned in his statement of 10th October 1978 (a) how many jurors were asked to stand by for the Crown in each case, (b) how much of the information discovered by means of the checks was disclosed to the defence in each case and c) what were the verdicts in each case.
§ The Attorney-General:(a) The information is not recorded; (b) it is impossible to measure; information is given on a confidential basis from counsel to counsel; (c) in one case all the accused were acquitted; in nine cases all the accused were convicted; in 12 cases some of the accused were convicted and some acquitted; in three cases, the results are not yet known.