The Law Commission has recommended that jurors who deliberately research a case online should face criminal charges and that judges should be given statutory powers to remove internet-enabled devices from jurors.
At the moment, judges set out what jurors in individual cases must not do and the civil courts can jail those who break the rules for contempt of court. However, the Law Commission’s report says that this can lead to inconsistency and confusion and wants Parliament to set standard rules for jurors.
Last January juror Theodora Dallas was jailed for six months when she was found to have researched a case online, leading to the abandonment of the trial. Ms Dallas is now taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that the jury was not given proper instructions.
The law commissioner heading the contempt project said that if the Commission’s recommendations were made law, jurors would know the rules and those accused of contempt would benefit from the normal protections of the criminal trial process.
Other recommendations made in the report include teaching school children about the role of jurors and the importance of jury service and amending the current oath taken by jurors to include an agreement to base their verdict solely on the evidence produced in court and not to seek or disclose evidence about the case.
The Commission would also like to see Contempt of Court laws changed to avoid pursuing the media for material published before a trial, including news reports detailing allegations about people who had not been arrested or charged at the time of publication.
Ministers will now debate the proposals.