Member of Parliament for St. Annes, the Hon. Adrian White contributed to debate on the Trial By Judge Alone (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2024 and the Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the House Of Assembly on Wednesday.
White told Parliamentarians, “while we have the option for trial by judge alone the majority of persons convicted for indictable offences are still likely to put their outcome in the hands of twelve as opposed to one. I looked at our constitution, the provision has been raised here, there is a right to trial by jury. My concern is that in the process of justice being carried out if the outcome isn’t favourable to an accused, the defendant, then there is more than likely to be some sort of technical challenge based on our constitution.”
