Lords condemns EU law vote

What lies behind the recent announcement by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, that he is to take away from defendants the right of trial by jury for certain categories of offence? According to the Home Secretary, the reason is to save money. So even by his own account the new measures will do nothing to improve the quality of justice in this country. Understandably, civil rights and minority interest groups are concerned about the implications of this move.

The fact is, Jack Straw may have little choice in the matter. When the Government signed the Amsterdam Treaty, committing this country to even closer political ties to Brussels, it also signed up to the legal provisions of the Treaty. One of these, known as 'Corpus Juris,' is the European Union's plan for a common criminal code and the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor. One of the explicit provisions of this proposal is the abolition of Trials by Jury.

Can it really be a coincidence that, so soon after the signing of the Treaty, the British Home Secretary starts surreptitiously pushing through exactly those measures aimed at bringing us into line with the rest of Europe?

The House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities has recently issued a damning report on Corpus Juris. The Select Committee's report raises serious objections on the grounds that it would involve major changes to UK criminal law, it lacks a proper legal basis in European Treaties, and there is inadequate protection for defendants rights (individuals could be held in custody without charge, for up to nine months).

Under European law there would be no right to Habeas Corpus or Trial by Jury, which have been the protection of British citizens against arbitrary arrest for the last 700 years. If Jack Straw really thinks the erosion of the right to Trial by Jury is a good thing, he will have to come up with some convincing arguments than he has to date. But, more importantly, he should come clean and tell us whether we are still governed by Westminster, or, as many people now suspect, by Brussels.