... the right to decide where the case was tried and magistrates would take the decision, the scrapping of the right to trial by jury for numerous offences. Defendants now have the right to choose jury or magistrates trial for a wide range of intermediate "either way" crimes including theft, assaults and drug offences. The idea is to take something like 500,000 instances of crime away from the courts and into the realm of the fixed penalty. It has been argued the jury is not a democratic part of the trial and is the least controlled aspect of the criminal process, jurors do not reflect the whole community because they are randomly selected from the electoral roll and liable to serve unless disqualified. In criminal trials there must be a jury of twelve, who follow judge's instructions and apply the 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard when deliberating. They attempt to reach a ...

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