I don't know what the impact has been of abolishing peremptory challenges in the U.K. What I do know is that through the uses of peremptory challenges that Mr. Friedman suggested he makes, we're really just chipping away at the margins of what is already, I think, a very flawed process. My sense is that if you can come up with a good explanation for why a juror should be excluded, then you have a challenge for cause available to you. The challenge for cause allows you to do that. What we're talking about is eliminating the ability to just exclude a juror without needing to provide any explanation. If you can articulate a legally justifiable reason for excluding a juror, use a challenge for cause. We're getting rid of that space where you might have a bad feeling about some person but it doesn't rise to the level of a legally defensible reason for excluding someone. That's where I become concerned, because what I see there is the ability to misuse these challenges. I am more comfortable with just not having them and looking to increase representativeness through other means.
On September 18th, 2018. See this statement in context.