Is the jury of UK obsolete today?

Answer 1

The jury is anything but obsolete today. Said to be one of the leading exports of the U.K., apart from common law system and football, it still holds high levels of respect among billions of individuals.If compared to its history, riddled with drunk judges and property ownership jury members, todays jury come from all walks of life and have finally settled down into a mould initially designed for them.Many have still criticised certain aspects of the system, from its composition to selection process. The Conservative government have been known to be critical of the jury system, and this has not differed when the Labour took over the helms. The unsuccessful, yet purposive attempts by Labour to end trial by jury has been seen in the Criminal justice(Mode of trial) Bill No.1 1999, and No.2 2000. It had been heavily critised, even by Labour very own backbenchers. Keith Vaz stands out, saying "when you take away a fundamental principle going back to the Magna Carta, you have to be very, very careful." Thus, as much as the Government of the day might try to make the jury system obsolete today, it will never be obsolete. In every member of parliament itself, i am very sure, cries a citizen demanding his/her right to be protected via this very mean, the jury system. Dr.Delvinder Singh PhD(Law), LLM, LLB(Hons) London, Barrister