"Jury nullification is a reminder that the right to trial
by one's peers affords the public an opportunity to take a
dissenting view about the justness of a statute or official
practices."
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Jury
Nullificationby Democrat Thu Aug 07, 2008
08:41The Wikipedia article at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
contains the following statement:
"Jury nullification
may also occur in civil suits ..." -- and not just, as many
seem to believe at the present time, in criminal cases
only.
This now appears very important in relation to
highly controversial environmental situations such as the
location of "superdumps" at places like Usk (County Kildare)
and Kilconnell (County Galway), the destruction of ancient
heritage sites at places such as Tara and Turoe, the "Shell To
Sea" controversy (County Mayo) and so on (for example)
because, as is also stated at the above Wikipedia address:
"Jury nullification is a reminder that the right to
trial by one's peers affords the public an opportunity to take
a dissenting view about the justness of a statute or official
practices."
Another and much more general -- though
possibly extremely important -- observation regarding this
issue by master-politician and lawyer Thomas Jefferson (from
the same Wikipedia article), who was the principal author of
the American Declaration of Independence and the Third
President of the United States of America, reads as
follows:
"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor
yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the
principles of its constitution."
Related link:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Jury+Nullification%2C+Civil+Cases&btnG=Search
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The above text has been
copied from the following
Indymedia (Ireland)
location:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/87134#comment233885====================
Human
Rights (Ireland)http://www.humanrightsireland.com====================
