In a letter to the Commission received on 16 February 2007, the Attorney General, the Hon R J Debus MP issued the following terms of reference:

Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967, the Law Reform Commission is to inquire into and report on directions and warnings given by a judge to a jury in a criminal trial.

In undertaking this inquiry the Commission should have regard to:

• the increasing number and complexity of the directions, warnings and comments required to be given by a judge to a jury;
• the timing, manner and methodology adopted by judges in summing up to juries (including the use of model or pattern instructions);
• the ability of jurors to comprehend and apply the instructions given to them by a judge;
• whether other assistance should be provided to jurors to supplement the oral summing up;
• any other related matter.

See also: Digest; Media release (12 December 2008); Conference Paper (The trial under siege: towards making criminal trials simpler); Conference Paper (Summing up in criminal trials - a new direction?)