Sir william bl ackstone, an 18th-century jurist who wrote a famous four-volume history of English law, described a man's right to trial by his peers as "the principal bulwark of our liberties". Almost 250 years later, this way of dispensing justice has greatly diminished; magistrates routinely hear criminal cases without jurors. However, for the past four centuries serious crimes in England and Wales have always been tried before a jury. On January 12th the trial of four men accused of armed robbery began at the Royal Courts of Justice in London heard by a judge alone, the first such case in modern times.
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机译：18世纪的法学家威廉·布莱克·斯通爵士（Sir William Blackstone）撰写了四卷著名的英国法律史，他将同伴受审判的权利描述为“我们自由的主要堡垒”。大约250年后，这种分配正义的方式大大减少了；治安法官通常在没有陪审员的情况下审理刑事案件。但是，在过去的四个世纪中，英格兰和威尔士的严重罪行一直在陪审团面前受到审判。 1月12日，仅在一名法官的审理下，伦敦的皇家法院开始对四名被控持械抢劫的男子进行审判，这是现代的首例此类案件。
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