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All of Lord Bonomy’s recommendations on jury research to be taken forward by Scottish government

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Michael Matheson

All of Lord Bonomy’s recommendations on jury research made as part of his post-corroboration safeguards review will be taken forward by the Scottish government, Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has confirmed.

In a letter to Margaret Mitchell MSP, convenor of the Justice Committee, Mr Matheson outlined the scope of the government’s research. It will look at:

  • what jurors understand to be the difference between “not guilty” and “not proven”;

  • why they select one over the other;

  • why, and to what extent, jurors alter their position on these verdicts as a result of deliberations;

  • the extent to which members of a 15-person jury participate (as opposed to a 12-person jury);

  • the differences in outcome, where the facts are the same, between a 12-person jury which has only two verdicts available and a 15-person jury with all three verdicts; and

  • whether there are benefits in requiring that the jury reach a unanimous verdict.

    • Mr Matheson added that the there will be two additional topics: methods of conveying information to jurors and the question whether or not evidence which is given in open court is assessed differently from pre-recorded evidence.

    The research will likely “take at least two years to complete but it should be possible for literature research to provide some helpful insights during the first year of this research,” Mr Matheson wrote.​

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