THE JURY SYSTEM.

Evening Star, Issue 22576, 18 February 1937, Page 3

THE JURY SYSTEM.

70 THE EDITOR. Sir, —In discussion of the recent acquittal of a woman in the north of serious charges it seems to be overlooked that there is another side to bo considered. In practically all discussion on this matter one hears condemnation by members of the public of a law which uses one partner to a crime to convict another, and less culpable, criminal. The failure of the four juries to convict on such evidence should stand as a warning to the legislators. Decent folk, even in cases such as these, are antagonistic to the use of one criminal against another. It violates their sense of fair play. But then, as the police must depend on the evidence of the more guilty parties (in the opinion of most) it means the virtual abandonment of such cases if thdse who approach such operators in the first place cannot be used against their helper. There is another aspect even more important. I have assumed in the foregoing that the parties connected with suen a transaction are guilty ol a crime. That is not the conviction of some of the world’s leading medical men and social leaders. There has been s strong body of medical opinion active in the direction of making recourse to such methods permissible by law. The world has already had one nation operating along those lines, and the Russian experience has considerably strengthened others elsewhere. The World League for Sexual Reform, with which is associated such world-famous names as Havelock, Ellis, and others, has been in existence for years, and the legalising of abortion is one of its objects. It may be that the public are conscious of this need and so conviction is becoming impossible. It was, anyway, the voice of the public and should be heeded. I am, etc., Advance. February 17.