§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives to judges on whether a case coming to trial could be heard by a judge without a jury. [28784]
§ Mr. MichaelNo such guidance has been issued, since in England and Wales a judge has no power to conduct a criminal trial without a jury. A consultation paper published on 16 February to which I referred in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Dr. Palmer), on 16 February 1998,Official Report, column 475, canvasses four alternatives to traditional jury trial in serious and complex fraud cases, one of which is trial by a judge sitting alone, but we have made it clear that we have a genuinely open mind about which option would be best and about whether such a change should go ahead.