A leading QC has warned of a risk of miscarriages of justice because jurors are more sceptical of defence lawyers.
Gordon Jackson, one of Scotland's most experienced lawyers and dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said it is harder than it used to be to secure acquittals in jury cases.
He believes jurors are more “sceptical” of defence lawyers and have become more “savvy” about forensic evidence, partially influenced by watching TV shows such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).
Jackson, speaking to The Sunday Times, said it was “possible” that innocent people face being wrongly convicted.
"Securing acquittals is much more difficult than it has been," he said.
"I am not saying this is a bad thing in the public interest, I am simply saying it is undoubtedly more difficult for lawyers like me to get acquittals than it was.
"Jurors are becoming much more sophisticated — they watch all these programmes.
"[They] are more sceptical.
"They are much more inclined to say, ‘That’s just lawyers talking; that’s just legal stuff.' "
Jackson, a former Labour MSP, added: "You could say they are harder to persuade — a cynic might say they are just harder to con than they used to be.
"Maybe they have a more realistic view of lawyers, that they have heard it all before."
Jackson, who became a QC in 1990, also said that police are building tighter cases with DNA evidence and mobile phone records.
He said the police are "much, much, much better than in the past, that is a huge change."
Jackson said his views are based on his own courtroom experiences.
He was recently involved in the case of a man whose conviction for sexually assaulting a woman was quashed after appeal judges ruled he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Figures suggest that overall, conviction rates in Scotland have slightly fallen over the past decade.
Jackson reiterated his concerns that prosecutors can become unduly influenced by the plight of crime victims, which he believes can lead to an over-zealous pursuit of a conviction.
He said he raised the issue with the Lord Advocate last year.
He said: "I, of course, totally accept that we have to look after victims.
"But I do think it has warped the process, I am unrepentant on that.
"It has affected the genuine impartiality and independence of the prosecutor, the balance was wrong before and I don’t think the balance is necessarily right now."
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