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Jury directions in criminal trials
Reference received: 16 February 2007
Report
Report 136: Jury directions in criminal trials (PDF, 1.1 MB) [PDF, 1Mb], November 2012
- Tabled in parliament: 26 March 2013
Other documents
- Consultation Paper 4: Jury directions (PDF, 999.5 KB) [PDF, 999Kb], December 2008
- Judicial citation: Blackwell v R [2011] NSWCCA 93 [90]
- Conference Paper (The trial under siege: towards making criminal trials simpler)
- Conference Paper (Summing up in criminal trials - a new direction?)
Terms of reference
In a letter to the Commission received on 16 February 2007, the Attorney General, the Hon R J Debus MP issued the following terms of reference:
Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967, the Law Reform Commission is to inquire into and report on directions and warnings given by a judge to a jury in a criminal trial.
In undertaking this inquiry the Commission should have regard to:
- the increasing number and complexity of the directions, warnings and comments required to be given by a judge to a jury;
- the timing, manner and methodology adopted by judges in summing up to juries (including the use of model or pattern instructions);
- the ability of jurors to comprehend and apply the instructions given to them by a judge;
- whether other assistance should be provided to jurors to supplement the oral summing up;
- any other related matter.
We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the ongoing connection Aboriginal people have to this land and recognise Aboriginal people as the original custodians of this land.