Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The number of criminal trials held in front of a jury could be reduced in a bid to speed-up the judicial system and save money.
Instead, more cases will be heard by a judge alone - if a government proposal goes through aimed at reducing delays in the court system. Feedback on the government's plan to restrict the right to jury trial closed on Thursday.
Henry Benson-Pope is a former Crown Prosecutor, and lectures in Law at the University of Otago.
He says the right to jury trials is recognised as central to our criminal justice system, and is concerned about the proposed restrictions - which he says aren't necessarily as the answer to delays.
