Trial by jury change ‘needs more debate’

THE director general of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, came out against a new law setting limits to trial by jury, saying it has not been allowed time for reasoned argument.

“There has been an absence of proper debate on this,” said Mr Murphy. “This is legislation affecting fundamental rights, the right of trial by jury, famously known as the lamp that shows that freedom lives. We think it should not be dimmed without overwhelming evidence of the need for it.”

The Criminal Justice Amendment Bill, which is being rushed through the Dáil before the summer recess, is designed, in particular, to address the problem of Limerick gangs and intimidation of juries in the city. It was put together in the wake of the slaying last April of businessman Roy Collins, whose step-brother gave evidence in a major Limerick gangland trial in 2005.