HC Deb 22 October 1979 vol 972 c10W
Miss Richardson

asked the Attorney-General in how many criminal trials jury vetting has been allowed.

The Attorney-General

The Director of Public Prosecutions has authorised checks on the jury panel in 29 cases under the guidelines controlling the practice of checking jury panels since they were issued in July 1975. In two of these cases the original jury was discharged by the judge and checks were also authorised on the panels from which the juries for the new trials were chosen.

Mr. Christopher Price

asked the Attorney-General (1) whether he will list in the Official Report those cases over the past 10 years when serving police officers have appeared as defendants before which jury vetting of a formal or informal nature has occurred;

(2) whether trials of police officers have now been added to those in which juries can be vetted.

The Attorney-General

The Director of Public Prosecutions has not authorised a check on the jury panel for a trial in which a police officer was a defendant since records on checks began to be kept after the introduction of the guidelines controlling the practice in July 1975. It is not and it has never been the practice of the Director to authorise a check because a police officer was a defendant.