Clause 41 — Application by Defendant for Trial to be conducted without Jury

Part of Criminal Justice Bill – in the House of Commons at 3:15 pm on 18 November 2003.

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Photo of David Blunkett David Blunkett The Secretary of State for the Home Department 3:15, 18 November 2003

Is the hon. Gentleman's proposition that it is more important that the public should understand what went on, even if a guilty man is found innocent, than it is to get a conviction, even if the public were not absolutely clear about the exact nature of a trial that lasted for 18 months or more? Does not that fly in the face of the Roskill report of 1986, with which he will be familiar as a lawyer?