Suicide by fire (self-incineration)for the purpose of political protest has appeared in several countries during the previous decade. In this paper, the history of this form of suicide has been explored. The authors examined all cases of suicide by fire reported in the London Times and New York Times between 1790 and 1972. Seventy-one per cent of these reported suicides occurred during the most recent decade, 1963 to 1972, with all cases of political self-incineration occurring during this period. The socio-cultural context in which this form of protest may occur, and the psychological factors in individuals who choose this method of suicide are both discussed. It is suggested that the occurrence of self-incineration as a means of political protest may be yielding to more aggressive acts of terrorism as popular methods of forcing political change.
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 ended the prohibition on female jurors. This did not mean that English and Welsh juries became representative institutions overnight, however: the property qualifications ensured that juries were still drawn from the top few per cent of the local population; and the 1919 Act expressly permitted trial judges to order single‐sex juries where the nature of the evidence required it. The continued existence of peremptory challenges allowed defendants in felony trials to exclude women from their juries whenever they preferred to be tried only by men. Finally, some judges permitted female jurors to excuse themselves from particular trials if they so desired. This paper explores the effects these factors had on the practical enjoyment of the female jury franchise after the passing of the 1919 Act. It finds that the picture is remarkably localised: rates of women serving on juries were very different for the five assize circuits for which adequate records exist (Midland, Oxford, South Eastern, South Wales and Western). By exploring these issues, this paper reveals how flexible the female jury franchise was in its early years, and shows how important local differences were in keeping women off the jury.
The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 has created several new offences regarding juror misconduct. While this legislation has been passed in response to jurors accessing improper 'evidence' online, it is wrong to treat juror misconduct as a new problem. The most famous case on this topic (Bushell's Case) did not completely prohibit juror punishment, but the rhetorical force of the decision was such that penal practices have until recently been overlooked in the academic literature. This article argues that assessing the new offences is greatly helped by understanding how juror misconduct has been responded to in the past.Drawing on the language of Bushell's Case itself, as well as new archival research, it argues that previous practices of juror punishment have largely depended on whether particular instances of misconduct related to the juror's 'ministerial' or 'judicial' functions; and that 'judicial' offences (those relating to verdict formation) have been much less likely to be punished. Rather, such offences have tended to be managed away. If today's judges continue acting in this way, the new offences are unlikely to be resorted to very often, with the judiciary being much more likely to focus on techniques for avoiding misconduct in the first place.* Lecturer in Law, Newcastle University. I am grateful for the support of the SLS, which funded the archival research from which this paper is drawn. I would also like to thank my colleagues Nikki Godden-Rasul and Sylvia de Mars, as well as Legal Studies' two anonymous reviewers, who offered very insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
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