Diplock courts

the name given to courts in Northern Ireland in which certain terrorist offences were tried by a judge sitting without a jury. The name derives from that of the English law lord whose report in 1972 recommended their creation.

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

References in periodicals archive ?

D'Amato went so far as to call the Diplock courts "kangaroo

Extradition's paradox: duty, discretion, and rights in the world of non-inquiry

However, like the Diplock courts, military commissions had

Terrorism and trial by jury: the vices and virtues of British and American criminal law

Diplock courts see judges sitting alone to hear offences associated with terrorism, such as murder and firearms crime

Vow over courts

The abrogation of jury trials in Northern Ireland through the creation of the Diplock courts in 1973 was one of the most fundamental encroachments on the protection of due process rights in the jurisdiction.(152) The Diplock courts have been plagued by controversy since their inception.(153) In addition to the coercive arrest and detention process, concerns about judicial case-handling, the high level of confession-based convictions, and the manipulation of the rules of evidence to ensure convictions have severely discredited the courts both domestically and internationally.(154)

The fortification of an emergency regime

"You couldn't get past them but as I went to get to my car it was too good an opportunity to miss so I confronted Adams about why his party are doing nothing about the injustice of Diplock Courts in 2010.

Republican doorsteps Adams on Diplocks

Mowlam also intends to change the law so that more offences go before jury trials rather than the judge-only Diplock Courts.

Ulster powers to go

It was partly for this reason, and to boost the rate and speed of convictions, that the government created the so-called Anti-Somocista Popular Tribunals--the kangaroo courts which try wartime Public Order offenses and which closely parallel Northern Ireland's Diplock courts.

Shamed

In Northern Ireland, no-jury Diplock courts were set up in the 70s as a way of overcoming suspected jury nobbling, mainly in IRA trials.

THE SOLE JUDGE; Robbery gang found guilty in first trial with no jury for 350 years

An exception is Northern Ireland's Diplock courts, set up to counter paramilitary threats.

FIRST NON-JURY TRIAL IS 'BREAKING HISTORY' After 400 yrs, judge tries case alone

A spokesman for the Court Service said the new arrangements were introduced after the abolition of non-jury Diplock courts earlier this year.

Jury lists trial delay

DIPLOCK Courts are to end in two years - unless MPs veto the move.

Diplock courts to fade out

He added: "This has to be set in the context of RUC interrogation techniques in Strand Road and Castlereagh and it also highlights an expressed willingness of Diplock courts to take confession-type statements to send republicans to jail."