Committal Proceedings Misconception
| Author | Kiamran Halil |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201837904300307 |
| Published date | 01 July 1979 |
| Date | 01 July 1979 |
Article
COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS MISCONCEPTION
Because
of
adramatic revelation which a British
juror
has recently
made to the present writer, this article purports to highlightan alarm-
ing misconception entertained by some jurors as respects the true effect
of
committal proceedings in England and Wales.l
Before drawing attention totheprecise nature
of
the said miscon-
ception, it would probably beuseful to reproduce the notice displayed
in
jury
rooms (as pointed
out
to us inBarrister's diary") which reads:
'Her Majesty's Judges remind you
of
the solemn obligation upon you
notto reveal, in any circumstances, to any person either during the trial
orafter itis over, anything relatingto itwhich has occurred in this
room while you have beenconsidering your verdict."
Despite the strictures
of
that notice, it is contended
that
no risk
of
contempt
of
court" is incurred either by the
juror
in question (who for
obvious reasons mustremain anonymous) or by thepresent writer in
revealing the curious means by which the
jury
arrived at their unanimous
verdict, provided
that
the particular case is notidentified by name or
through
other
details and the venue
of
the court is notdivulged.
The
juror
volunteered the information
that
when the
jury
retired
to the
jury
room to embark
upon
their deliberations, they ignored the
evidence completely. Instead, they attached considerable significance
to the fact
that
the defendant was committed for trial. They therefore
felt
that
the examining justices 'must have been satisfied
of
the defend-
ant's guilt onthe evidence they had heard, for otherwise they would not
have committed him for trialin thefirstplace'!Consequently, they
returned averdict
of
Guilty. The juryman in question was, astonishingly
enough, an Assistant Bank Manager
of
one
of
the national banks.
The writer
took
great pains to impress upon him
that
the
jury
had
approached their taskona totally wrong footing.
It
was only after
lengthy discussion
that
he was finallypersuaded to accept the view
that
the jury (as a whole) had not discharged their function properly.
Now, since an Assistant Bank Manager
took
that
line (in presuming
the defendant guilty simply becausehe had been committed for trial by
the justices), one is left wondering how tempting it
may
be for
many
other jurors -as evidently itmusthavebeenfor the
other
eleven
jurymen in the instant case -belonging toless humble professions to
labour under the same misapprehension andcausea similar miscarriage
of
justice.
163
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting