Blunkett backs jury clampdown

Middle-class people should be prevented from dodging jury service, David Blunkett has suggested.

In a speech on Thursday, the home secretary backed recommendations by a senior appeal court judge, Lord Auld, that juries should reflect a cross-section of society.

I want all juries to be representative of all of our community

David Blunkett

"I support Auld's recommendations that juries should draw on all sections of society to the full, and that the middle class withdrawal from jury service is effectively eliminated," Mr Blunkett said.

"Anyone who shirks the responsibility of jury duty helps to undermine the foundation of one of our country's most cherished freedoms."

In his speech to the Institute for the Study of Civil Society Mr Blunkett said he did not accept Lord Auld's recommendation that a minimum of three jurors from ethnic minorities should sit for race cases.

"I want all juries to be representative of all of our community," he said.

"I think this is the right way to eliminate any risk of racial bias in the way juries work - not by artificially building a different sort of bias into the composition of the jury."

The home secretary wants to increase public trust and confidence in the legal system.

Lord Auld's review of the criminal justice system recommended that everyone should be eligible for jury service apart from the mentally ill.

Professionals' obligation

Mr Blunkett said: "Judges, lawyers, doctors and other professionals should be obliged to serve on juries.

David Blunkett is believed to want 'common sense sentencing'

"The current exemptions for jury service should be removed and juries should be drawn from all sections of society."

Mr Blunkett also supported Lord Justice Auld's recommendation that the existing Crown Court and magistrates' court system should be replaced by a single three-tier system.

"It is crucial that we get common sense back into sentencing, and that we ensure that we are clearly seen to be on the side of the victim, not the perpetrator," Mr Blunkett said.

"This is a key element in increasing public trust and confidence in our legal and judicial system."