Legislation governing jury tampering is again before the House of Representatives.
Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck says the amendment will allow a judge to discharge a tainted jury and proceed alone or order a new trial.
The jury tampering provisions were stripped from the Jury Amendment Bill before it passed the House of Representatives on February 3.
Those provisions would have allowed the prosecution to apply, before trial, for a case to be heard by a judge alone where there is evidence of a real and present danger of jury tampering.
The Opposition, led by Mark Golding, refused to back that measure in its original form.
It argued that trial by judge alone should first go to a joint select committee so stakeholders and the public could have their say.
Minister Chuck suspended the debate in January, then withdrew the tampering section, saying the long-awaited increase in juror pay should not be held up while those clauses still needed tweaking.
The Justice Minister, speaking on Tuesday, sought to assure the Opposition that the legislation in its amended form will not threaten jury trials.
He says he expects the bill to be passed at the next sitting of parliament.
Meanwhile, in the interest of concerns raised by the Opposition, Minister Chuck, says a Joint Select Committee will be convened in the future to thorough review the Jury Act as a whole.
This will include the age old question as to whether the country should proceed with trials by judge alone.
Delroy Chuck, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
