Jury directions in criminal trials
Reference received: 16 February 2007
Report
Report 136: Jury directions in criminal trials [PDF, 1Mb], November 2012
Tabled in parliament: 26 March 2013
Consultation paper
Consultation 4: Jury directions [PDF, 999Kb], December 2008
Judicial citation: Blackwell v R [2011] NSWCCA 93 [90]
NSW LRC Media Release - Consultation paper on jury directions (12 December 2008)
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.