It is always an event when the Lord Chief Justice reveals his views on the judicial system and so it was when the new holder of the office, Lord Judge of Draycote, addressed the University of Hertfordshire on 4 November. The title of his speech was “The Criminal Justice system in England and Wales – time for change?” and the full text can be found at http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/speeches/lcj-speech-uni-hertfordshire-041108.pdf

Among many aspects considered was the relationship between the internet and the jury system. Lord Judge’s concerns are twofold. Firstly the availability of the internet to jurors. At the outset of a trial, judges direct the jury not to look at the internet in connection with the trial. They must reach their verdict only on the basis of what they hear in the courtroom. But, inevitably, from time to time an individual juror will disregard the direction and make his own private enquiries. Lord Judge referred specifically to a recent case when a juror went online using a Blackberry during a rape case, causing the conviction to be quashed. And he is not just concerned with today, “but the technology which will be available to our successors in, say, 2020 or 2025. I cannot begin to imagine the extent of the changes which lie ahead.”

His second concern is the extent to which internet culture is inimical to the traditional jury system. “Our system of jury trials depends on twelve good men and women and true coming to court and listening to the case. Orality is the crucial ingredient of the adversarial system. Witness speak and answer questions. Counsel speak and address the jury. Judges speak and give directions.” He described how the young get much information from the internet, how they consult and refer to it. “They are not listening. They are reading.” The potential problem he identifies is whether, learning as they do in this way, they will be accustomed to listening for prolonged periods. “What will happen to our oral tradition? Should it, will it, be forced to change?”

Writing in “The Guardian” Marcel Berlins wonders if the jury system can survive the internet. Accepting the validity of Lord Judge’s observations, he points out that although members of the internet generation are currently in the minority of today’s juries, progress is relentless, and it will not be long before they start to dominate them. He poses the question “what can be done to convey the evidence during a trial in a more palatable way, without destroying the essence of the jury system?”

Neither he nor the Lord Chief Justice (“I do not have solutions”) come up with answers.

The Ministry of Justice has announced that the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill received Royal Assent on 8 May. The first provisions (in relation to dangerous offenders) are expected to come in to force in July.

The Act will:

• introduce a new criminal offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation
• clarify the law on self defence, articulating the state’s responsibility to stand by those acting in good faith when using force in self defence
• introduce new civil penalties for serious breaches of data protection principles
• abolish the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel
• reinstate the statutory ban on industrial action by prison officers
• introduce a minimum tariff of two years for prisoners serving indeterminate public protection sentences
• end automatic discounts for offenders given an indeterminate sentence after the initial sentencing decision has been judged unduly lenient
• give powers for courts to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before being eligible for parole
• create a presumption that trials in magistrates’ courts will proceed in the event the accused fails to appear
• introduce a new offence of possession of extreme pornographic images
• extend existing crack house closure powers to tackle premises at the centre of serious and persistent disorder or nuisance, regardless of tenure
• create a new offence of causing a nuisance or disturbance on NHS premises
• provide for non-dangerous offenders who breach the terms of their licence to be recalled to prison for a fixed 28 day period
• create a Youth Rehabilitation Order – a generic community sentence for children and young offenders, this will target the causes of offending behaviour and will simplify the current sentencing framework
• create the Youth Conditional Caution for young offenders
• bring compensation for those wrongly convicted broadly into line with compensation for victims of crime
• provide for special immigration status for terrorists and serious criminals who cannot currently be removed from the UK for legal reasons.