To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his response to the proposal by the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights that consideration should be given to the establishment of a collegiate court pending full restoration of jury trials. [32699]

The Government are not presently persuaded that multi-judge courts are desirable to deal with scheduled offences. There is no evidence to show that a change to multi-judge courts would necessarily produce better justice, or significantly enhanced confidence in the court system. Any person convicted of a scheduled offence in a single-judge court has an automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal which itself comprises three judges, and there is an important safeguard in that the trial judge is required to produce a written judgment setting out his reasons for any conviction.