TONGA: Call for jury trials to be scrapped
Updated
The President of Tonga's Law Society thinks the country should scrap jury trials in favour of trial in front of a judge. His comments follow the latest Supreme Court trial of seven people charged in relation to last year's pro-democracy riots. Six of the seven accused were acquitted by the jury. Law Society President, Laki Niue, says a jury system might not be the best one for a place like Tonga.
Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speakers: Laki Niu, President of Tonga's Law Society
LAKI NIU: This problem was already known before these prosecutions began because of the smallness of the population, the closeness of the family ties and church affiliations and so forth. It was appreciated that the jury maybe inappropriate in these cases. But the constitution guarantees the right to jury trial to any defendant charged with an indictable offence. So I think this result here may … I'm not aware … I wasn't in the case or know what it was about or … I mean the evidence but it maybe if the evidence was glaring and jury acquitted, maybe one of the cases where it was not appropriate to have a jury trial.
BRUCE HILL: Have you been in cases in Tonga where you felt that legally it was pretty obvious what happened but the jury saw it another way?
LAKI NIU: Yeah I was prosecutor for a few years - five years in Government and I can tell you that the majority of the cases I did were acquitted by the jury. I did have some success but I … even was informed by the prosecution division that they would rather see the jury system abolished. But ofcourse that didn't happen and its still there.
BRUCE HILL: Do you think the jury system should be abolished or replaced with some other system?
LAKI NIU: I personally think that it should be changed or abolished. The jury system does not allow any appeal against the verdict of the jury and maybe just … it may not be just, we don't know and in my experience there have been cases where I knew that the … the guilty people were acquitted and I'm sure there have been cases where innocent people have been convicted as well. But with judge alone cases there is a right of appeal against the finding of fact or the conviction which the judge has imposed, so that you can appeal it and 3 other judges sit there and they go through the evidence. You also appeal on any directions in law or any finding of the judge in law. So that there is better scrutiny of evidence.
BRUCE HILL: Do you think there would be a better system for Toga than …
LAKI NIU: I would think so. Yes I think that like in any other country not just Tonga I'm talking about. I know that in England even they have been just talking about doing away with the jury system there. I think its not only England. I think New Zealand as well because of perversity of jury positions and it does not happen often but they do happen in especially cases of wide publicity involving or concerning some controversial matter in society, the jury are reminded to acquit people of when the jury believes the course that the person is pursuing.
