The most recent edition of the Economist has an interesting article about juries in the Caribbean entitled 12 Clueless Men. According to the article, some of the smaller countries in the Caribbean that adhere to the common law system are moving towards abolishing criminal juries. While this article is definitely anti-jury, it does highlight some of the concerns that arise when countries rely on lay persons to decide difficult issues like guilt or innocence.
“WE simply cannot carry on the way we are going,” says Trinidad and Tobago’s chief justice, Ivor Archie. Along with other reforms, he wants to abolish the jury system, a hallowed cornerstone of English common law for almost 800 years and exported to Britain’s former colonies in the Caribbean. Juries, he argues, slow trials down, making them last up to a year, and clog his country’s courts. Clogged they certainly are. More than 500 jailed murder suspects await trial.
To continue reading the article go here.
h/tip Scott Malouf
Comments