Alternatives to Juries

• Trial by a single judge is the case for most civil trials and was also used in Northern Ireland up until 2007.
• Judges are familiar with the law and in evaluating case facts better than a jury.
• The downside of a trial by judge is that the public have little faith in a trial by judge as judges become hardened to cases and tend to have prosecution in mind.
• An advantage of a trial by judge is that judges are not considered to be from an elite background like juries, which can help eliminate bias.
• A Panel of Judges is a system where a panel of 3-5 judges sit together to provide a balanced view of the case.
• The issue with a Panel of Judges is that there are not enough judges in the UK to support this system and it would be very expensive to change the current jury system.
• Judges in a Panel of Judges are still case hardened and have prosecuting in mind.