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Diplock court
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Diplock court
Diplock courts were criminal courts in Northern Ireland for non-jury trial of specified serious crimes ("scheduled offences"). They were introduced by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 and used for serious and terrorism-related cases during the Troubles. The Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 ended the automatic use of non-jury trials for scheduled offences but they are still used in Northern Ireland upon certification by the Director of Public Prosecutions on a case-by-case basis.
The Diplock court was not a specially constituted court, but rather an ordinary criminal court before a single judge. From 1991 the relevant court was the Crown Court; before that it was the Belfast City Commission (alternatively the Belfast Recorder's Court until that was abolished in 1975). A Diplock Crown Court usually sat in Belfast but the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland had power to direct a particular case, or class of cases, or part of a case, to be heard elsewhere.
The list of scheduled offences required to be tried by Diplock court included:
For some scheduled offences, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland could specify a jury trial of a particular case, so that for example a non-political murder would not use the Diplock courts.
The courts were established in response to a report submitted to the UK Parliament in December 1972 by Lord Diplock, which addressed the issue of dealing with physical force Irish republicanism through means other than internment (which had been implemented in August 1971). In his report, Diplock cited two primary reasons for his recommendation that jury trials should be suspended:
Gerald Gardiner's Minority Report as part of the Parker Report in March 1972 found "no evidence of [intimidation] or of perversity in juries". The report marked the beginning of the policy of "criminalisation", whereby the State removed legal distinctions between political violence and normal crime, with political prisoners treated as common criminals. The report provided the basis for the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973, which, although later amended (with the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974 and subsequent renewals), continued as the basis for counter-terrorist legislation in the UK.
Two years later, Lord Gardiner's review of the removal of trial by jury included attempts to bolster Diplock's findings as follows:
We are convinced on the evidence that we have received, that if juries were to be reintroduced for scheduled offences, their verdicts would still be subject to the influences of intimidation, or the fear of it. We have no evidence of this or of perversity in juries ...
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Diplock court
Diplock courts were criminal courts in Northern Ireland for non-jury trial of specified serious crimes ("scheduled offences"). They were introduced by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 and used for serious and terrorism-related cases during the Troubles. The Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 ended the automatic use of non-jury trials for scheduled offences but they are still used in Northern Ireland upon certification by the Director of Public Prosecutions on a case-by-case basis.
The Diplock court was not a specially constituted court, but rather an ordinary criminal court before a single judge. From 1991 the relevant court was the Crown Court; before that it was the Belfast City Commission (alternatively the Belfast Recorder's Court until that was abolished in 1975). A Diplock Crown Court usually sat in Belfast but the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland had power to direct a particular case, or class of cases, or part of a case, to be heard elsewhere.
The list of scheduled offences required to be tried by Diplock court included:
For some scheduled offences, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland could specify a jury trial of a particular case, so that for example a non-political murder would not use the Diplock courts.
The courts were established in response to a report submitted to the UK Parliament in December 1972 by Lord Diplock, which addressed the issue of dealing with physical force Irish republicanism through means other than internment (which had been implemented in August 1971). In his report, Diplock cited two primary reasons for his recommendation that jury trials should be suspended:
Gerald Gardiner's Minority Report as part of the Parker Report in March 1972 found "no evidence of [intimidation] or of perversity in juries". The report marked the beginning of the policy of "criminalisation", whereby the State removed legal distinctions between political violence and normal crime, with political prisoners treated as common criminals. The report provided the basis for the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973, which, although later amended (with the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974 and subsequent renewals), continued as the basis for counter-terrorist legislation in the UK.
Two years later, Lord Gardiner's review of the removal of trial by jury included attempts to bolster Diplock's findings as follows:
We are convinced on the evidence that we have received, that if juries were to be reintroduced for scheduled offences, their verdicts would still be subject to the influences of intimidation, or the fear of it. We have no evidence of this or of perversity in juries ...