Sarah Sackman, the Justice Minister, has just said, "There is no fundamental right to trial by jury"

Notwithstanding this volte-face:
“Jury trials are fundamental to our democracy. We must protect them”. David Lammy MP, 2020

There are only three clauses out of the 63 in the #MagnaCarta that we still follow: the freedom of the Church of England, the privileges of the City of London, and the right to justice and a fair trial.

What does the fair trial one say.....

1/2

"No free man shall be captured or imprisoned or disseised of his freehold or of his liberties, or of his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against him by force or proceed against him by arms, but by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land"

So Ms Sackman is wrong

@Geri it was done in Northern Ireland with the Diplock courts due to jury intimidation. But the approach here is purely to cover up the shortage not only of lawyers at all levels but also court building closures under the Tories.

@John_Loader @Geri Just remind me: aren't criminal barristers paid poorly like resident doctors?

@Geri Surely the fact that we don't follow the other 60 clauses gives weight to the argument that we can ignore the right to a fair trial one? Obviously that will be against the ECHR and UDHR but that doesn't seem to have worried the present government too much so far.

@seabass @Geri The other 60 clauses were explicitly repealed. That they were repealed doesn't mean that the remaining clauses can simply be ignored, they'd have to be repealed too.

@noisytoot @Geri I see, so basically the right to a fair trial could be repealed, but that would require an Act of Parliament rather than just a directive from the Ministry of Justice?

Also hello again @noisytoot, mind if I follow you? 🙂

@seabass @Geri Correct (and hi, I don't mind if you follow me)

@noisytoot @seabass I can not see government repealing any remaining section of that 'sacred document'

Think of the outrage xx