Unanimous jury ruling could change

Thu, 20 Mar 2014

The law requiring a jury to reach a unanimous verdict in court cases on the Isle of Man could change.

The issue of replacing the current system with a majority verdict will be looked at next year as part of the new Sentencing Bill.

Recently there have been two hung juries in the trial of the Island’s suspended Attorney General Stephen Harding.

It led to comments and what the Chief Minister has described as ‘understandable concern’ and speculation as to whether the system had failed.

Allan Bell says the law requiring unanimous decisions has served the Island well and any changes would be ultimately decided by Tynwald Members.