Non-Jury trials remain a mainstay of the British judicial system in Ireland in spite of them being nearly unheard of in Britain itself.
They were introduced in their modern iteration in 1973 on the recommendation of Kenneth, ‘Lord’, Diplock, in the aftermath of 1971’s disastrous ‘Operation Demetrius’ (internment without trial). Internment had shattered the already fractured level of hegemony previously upheld in occupied Ireland; it failed militarily and served as a massive propaganda win for those resisting British rule. Non-jury trials were seen as a more ‘acceptable’ method of quelling resistance quietly and under the guise of ‘legality’.
These courts were to be used exclusively for what Diplock termed “terrorist crime”. However, over time, it became clear that they were “not exclusively [used for], conflict-related offences”. A clear overreach from the system’s original intention (which was already “contrary to international law” according to Amnesty International).
On the face of it, Diplock courts ceased to be with the introduction of the Justice and Security Act in 2007. In reality, they were simply replaced with a form of non-jury trial that the powers-that-be would find easier to justify in the aftermath of the IRA surrender two years earlier. There would be no cessation of the unjust courts in Ireland, and eighteen years later that is how things remain.
It is now the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who chooses which cases will proceed without a jury rather than the blanket list of charges which previously resulted in an automatic loss of a right to a jury. This concession was made after years of protest from both sides of the divided working class and in aid of their process of ‘normalisation’ (in which fresh paint is put on the same old machine).
The decisions made by the DPP should follow four conditions in order to ensure ‘fairness’ however, even Fleur Anderson (Labour MP for Putney and Under-Secretary for occupied Ireland) described these conditions as “broad and cover[ing] a broad range of circumstances” just a few months ago. Is this the attitude we would want for such a denial of justice, that goes against any notion of the rule of law or a fair trial?
The counter point often raised by those in the ruling class and even by Fleur Anderson recently is that it is such a “small proportion of cases” that it is insignificant and not a threat to any idea of legality. This is not the case however. In 2024, 0.7% of ‘Crown’ court cases in occupied Ireland were tried without a jury, amounting to 10 out of 1,520.
This may appear to lend credence to the claims of British ministers however, were that same proportion of 0.7% to be applied to English and Welsh ‘Crown’ court cases it would amount to nearly 220 cases a year. That is 220 defendants who would not have access to a fair trial. It is highly unlikely that such an injustice would be allowed to stand as the “jury system is central and pivotal to [the] justice system”. In Ireland though there is no outcry from elected officials or the judicial hierarchy. This is just yet another symptom of
British imperialism in Ireland.
There will never be British justice in Ireland.
