Gavin R. Putland,  BE PhD

Friday, March 19, 2010 (Comment)

Juries can already protect whistleblowers

Your report on the Allan Kessing case (The Australian, 19/3, p.29) fails to mention the whistleblower-protection law that we already have, namely the power of the jury to acquit in the teeth of the law and the facts.

Had the jurors who tried Mr Kessing known of this power, they might have acquitted him regardless of whether they believed his version of the facts, and the question of a pardon might not have arisen.

The duty of the media to protect the people's right to know includes the duty to inform prospective jurors of their power to protect whistleblowers.

[Letter rejected by The Australian, Mar.19, 2010; posted here Sep.24, 2011.]


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