THE Deputy Bailiff, Michael Birt, has suggested that the UK government should consider Jersey’s system of trial by a professional judge and two Jurats in cases of complex criminal fraud.

Speaking at the Assize d’Heritage in the Royal Court yesterday, marking the start of the legal year, Mr Birt referred to proposals by the UK government to replace trial by jury with trial by a single judge for those cases.

‘It seems to me that a court consisting of a professional judge and two intelligent laymen or laywomen has a better chance of reaching the right decision in cases which turn on the facts than a court consisting of a professional judge alone,’ said Mr Birt.

He paid tribute to the contribution made to the administration of justice by the Jurats – two-thirds of whose time last year was taken up by civil cases and the rest by criminal ones.

Mr Birt drew the court’s attention to changes in the rules of court – changes recommended by him and the Jurats – allowing the court to stay proceedings for other methods of dispute resolution to take place.