Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill

My Lords, the logic of my noble friend’s position is for everyone to judge. This Bill is not an attack on the jury system and repeating the contrary proposition, however often, does not make it true. It is ultimately about justice and about ensuring that those who are responsible for fraud on the grander scale can be called to account as effectually as those charged with more everyday offences. We want the sharks to be caught and not just the minnows, to take the analogy that was used behind me. Many distinguished people and senior judicial figures over the years have proposed non-jury trial as a solution to this particular problem—and Parliament enacted it in 2003. Lord Justice Auld’s dictum—that our present position puts justice at risk—has been referred to several times. That is the basis on which this Bill is put forward, and I commend this Bill to the House.