Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

One must remember that jurors are judges of fact. While it is true they take an oath and are obliged to act collectively, nonetheless they are judges of fact in a particular case. Irish law gives jurors a function in assessing damages in certain cases such as assault, fraud and other related matters to avoid the scenario in which although one person establishes the facts of a case and disbelieves one side, another person is given the compensatory function. The newspapers sought such a scenario. They wanted the jury to establish whether there was a libel and the judge to be given the function of assessing damages thereafter.