Twittering, Googling threaten jury trial

Court-based tweeting and internet research by jurors are threatening trial by jury, Lord Judge, the UK lord chief justice, has warned.

Court-based tweeting and internet research by jurors are threatening trial by jury, Lord Judge, the UK lord chief justice, has warned.

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He said that if juries were to survive, then jurors must stop using the internet and breaches might be punished as a contempt of court.

He also warned that sending Twitter messages about potentially prejudicial court material could risk a mistrial.

He added: “We ... assume that the occasions when jurors go to the internet for information are rare indeed. It is therefore easy to brush them aside as odd moments I wonder whether we will still be thinking that in a year or two from now.”

Lord Judge even suggested sending text messages from court buildings should be banned.