508 / 736
without any obligation on the accused to testify.
He strongly disagreed with proposals of a committee
of Justice, the all-party lawyers group, that a person
suspected on reasonable grounds of having committed
an indictable offence, should be
required
to attend
before a magistrate and to answer police questions.
Justice also proposed
that
if
a
prima
facie
case
emerged,
the accused would be compelled
to give
evidence at his trial.
He objected because it would give great power to the
police "exercisable
in every
indictable case,
for use
against the innocent as well as the guilty and capable,
like all powers, of abuse."
There was no proof this was necessary for the contain
ment of crime or that it would be likely
to reduce
crime to any considerable extent.
Even
if he was sure
that all, or nearly all,
the
questioned persons would be guilty, he would
still
withhold these powers on the ground of cruelty.
"I think it cruel to compel a man to choose between
confessing his guilt, committing perjury or standing mute
and suffering whatever penalties you care
to attach
to his silence.
"To avoid such cruelty is
in my eyes, one mark of
a civilised community."
The burden of proof was on those who proposed to
diminish the citizen's rights. It was a "heavy burden"
not to be discharged by mere phrases such as "the
war against crime" or by invoking "the needs of a
modern society."
(Daily Telegraph, 25 June, 1970).
3—Fraud beyond most juries', says QC
A panel of special assessors drawn from
those of
experience and distinction in commerce should replace
the conventional jury in complex fraud cases, a leading
criminal lawyer claimed.
Writing in the latest Law Guardian, Mr. Michael
Sherard. Q.C., who defended Hanratty
in
the A6
murder trial and recently represented Xonn Bloom, the
former washing-machine magnate,
said
that
trying
complicated fraud cases was quite beyond the capacity
of the average jury.
Though many lawyers would agree that juries, more
often than not. managed to produce what seemed to
be the right result in the end, it was "idle to pretend
that the element of pure chance is not great."
There was a real danger that the case for the accused
could be lost beneath a mountain of paper and a mass
technical oral evidence.
"One has to face the serious fact that the sort of
person who mieht be capable of understanding the case
and doing real justice to it is usually so occupied in his
own business or professional activitv as to be reasonably
entitled to ask to be excused from such a time-consuming
duty.
"Conversely
those who have the time
to serve on
such a
jury are often
ill-equipDed
intellectually or
otherwise for the task. They might try other cases
admirably; but complicated fraud cases are quite beyond
their reasonable capacity."
A
layman called upon for jury service -in a fraud
case might have to serve for months on end to cope
with technical commercial Toblems and to understand
and interoret accounts and documents with which he
was entirely unfamiliar.
,
^
Mr. Sherrard points out
that
there
is
still
no
minimum
educational
standard
for
jurors.
A
recommendation by a committee in 1965
that jurors
should at least be able to read, write and speak and
understand English had still not been implemented.
He suggests that the panel of special assessors should
be appointed by
the Lord Chancellor. No member
would be called upon to try more than one or two
"heavy fraud cases" during his appointment so
that
the burden would not be excessive and the danger, of
becoming "case-hardened" would be slight.
When a complicated fraud case was committed for
trial, the prosecution or the defence could a""'v to the
Queen's Bench Divisional Court for a certificate that
the case was suitable for trial by special assessors.
If granted, the case would be heard by a judge of
the Commercial Court sitting with six assessors drawn
from the panel. A similar scheme for trying fraud cases
was suggested last year by Mr. Justice Lawton.
Trials of John Bloom after the collapse of the Rolls
Razor empire had been expected to last three and seven
months. They did not go ahead because Bloom pleaded
guilty to two lesser charges of fraud while pleas of not
guilty to six other charges concerned with the company's
affairs were accepted by the prosecution.
He was fined £30,000 but not sent to prison. Recently
Bloom claimed he had been assured by his lawyers that
if he pleaded guilty to two lesser charges and the six
others were dropped by the prosecution, he would get
"no bird."
4—Murder
trial
shock — jury discharged
The Belfast murder trial was discontinued and the
jury discharged yesterday following applications by the
three
defence
counsel. The
three men who were
accused of murdering Constable Victor Arbuckle, will
be re-tried in the autumn. Applications for bail were
refused.
This sensational develonment in the trial was heralded
by a 45-minute delay
in
the return of Mr. Justice
McGonigal and counsel after the lunch-time break the
ninth day of the trial.
The judge heard submissions that the bus taking the
jury to and from the court each day had passed the
scene of the crime, and also that at lunch-time, the
three defence counsel had walked passed what they now
believed was the jury room in the courthouse in which
a window was open and their conversation may have
been heard by the jury.
Giving his decision to discharge the jury, Mr. Jutice
McGonigal said :
"I am doubtful, but I think the fact
that I am doubtful is sufficient, as even the risk of mis
carriage of iustice must be avoided."
Accused of the capital murder of Constable Arbuckle
are Thomas Rountree (411, Belfast: Ernest Bell
(281,
Suffolk Co. Antrim and William Duncan (261. Belfast.
They are also accused of maliciously wounding four
people, including a former "B" Special, a policeman, a
soldier' and a civilian, and they each face five separate
firearms and ammunition charges.
They plead not guiltv of all the charges.
Making their submissions, the three defence counsel
said the' bus which
took
the jury
to and from
the
courthouse each day passed bv Townsend St. and the
junction of Peter's Hill and the Shankill Road. The
54