Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/111881
Type: Journal article
Title: ‘Squizzy’ and the Cuckold : How Majority Jury Verdicts Got their Australian Foothold”
Author: Taylor, G.D.
Citation: Australian Bar Review, 2018; 45:36-61
Issue Date: 2018
ISSN: 0814-8589
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Greg Taylor
Abstract: Majority jury verdicts in criminal cases were introduced far earlier in South Australia than in most comparable places. A number of factors combined to produce this result: one was the South Australian Law Reform Commission of 1923–27, a body which can now be seen as ahead of its time despite the ridicule heaped upon it by Mr Justice Evatt because it was not staffed by lawyers. It uncovered and mobilised a substantial degree of support for majority verdicts among the leaders of the profession. In Victoria in the same decade there was a great deal of anxiety about jury squaring (rigging) based partly on rumours surrounding the notorious gangster ‘Squizzy’ Taylor. This spread to South Australia, and, unlike the Victorian, the South Australian legislature was in a position to take decisive action. Nevertheless, rumours of and even proof of jury squaring continued after majority verdicts were introduced.
Keywords: jury verdicts
jury
Rights: © LexisNexis
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest 8
Law publications

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