By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:16 EST, 19 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:20 EST, 19 January 2013 . Barristers are in the dock today after it emerged they have been googling jurors to help them win trials. The top lawyers use information about their jobs, interests, likes and dislikes then tailor courtroom speeches to get a sympathetic hearing. Now  the Bar Council is planning new . guidelines to tackle the problem which has been rapped as 'unethical' by . a Crown Court judge, it was reported. Concerns: Googling of jurors by barristers has been raised with the Bar Council who are to introduce new guidelines . Jurors face a charge of contempt and jail if they are caught researching defendants on the internet while sitting on a case. In 2011, the Lord Chief Justice warned that misuse of the internet posed a threat to the integrity of the jury system. ‘If the jury system is to survive… the misuse of the internet by jurors must stop,’ he said. A study at University College London has revealed that jurors regularly use the internet to research defendants and are often ignorant about the rules. Almost half of all jurors do not know what to do if they know of improper conduct during a case. Search engine: Jurors regularly google judges and barristers in the cases and discuss how they performed and their reputations . Last week at a Law Commission symposium on contempt, Judge Alistair McCreath hit out at barristers googling the background of jurors. Guilty: A trial collapsed after Theodora Dallas researched a defendant online. She was jailed for six months for contempt . The Recorder of Westminster who sits at Southwark Crown Court, said: 'It sounds all wrong. We don't conduct jury research... for good reason. This seems to undermine all that. It stinks.' Attorney General Dominic Grieve has . asked the Commission to overhaul contempt laws which could include a . new criminal offence of researching cases on the internet. The Times reported that jurors often google judges and barristers in the case, discussing their courtroom performances, previous trials they have been involved in and their reputations. Last year a juror who caused a trial to be stopped because she researched a defendant’s past on the internet was jailed for six months. Lecturer Theodora Dallas, 34, turned to the web while trying a man for grievous bodily harm.She discovered he had previously been acquitted of rape – information not given during his assault trial at Luton Crown Court. Dallas shared her findings with her fellow jurors who informed the judge – and the trial of Barry Medlock, 64, a violent drinker, was halted. Andrew Walker, QC, chairman of the Bar Council committee, told the Times that new guidelines would be agreed soon, but would not signal if they would include a ban. He said:' I would expect all barristers to uphold the highest standards of ethical behaviour.'
Crown Court judges condemns practice as 'unethical'
Jurors regularly use internet to research judges and barristers in their case .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:16 EST, 19 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:20 EST, 19 January 2013 . Barristers are in the dock today after it emerged they have been googling jurors to help them win trials. The top lawyers use information about their jobs, interests, likes and dislikes then tailor courtroom speeches to get a sympathetic hearing. Now  the Bar Council is planning new . guidelines to tackle the problem which has been rapped as 'unethical' by . a Crown Court judge, it was reported. Concerns: Googling of jurors by barristers has been raised with the Bar Council who are to introduce new guidelines . Jurors face a charge of contempt and jail if they are caught researching defendants on the internet while sitting on a case. In 2011, the Lord Chief Justice warned that misuse of the internet posed a threat to the integrity of the jury system. ‘If the jury system is to survive… the misuse of the internet by jurors must stop,’ he said. A study at University College London has revealed that jurors regularly use the internet to research defendants and are often ignorant about the rules. Almost half of all jurors do not know what to do if they know of improper conduct during a case. Search engine: Jurors regularly google judges and barristers in the cases and discuss how they performed and their reputations . Last week at a Law Commission symposium on contempt, Judge Alistair McCreath hit out at barristers googling the background of jurors. Guilty: A trial collapsed after Theodora Dallas researched a defendant online. She was jailed for six months for contempt . The Recorder of Westminster who sits at Southwark Crown Court, said: 'It sounds all wrong. We don't conduct jury research... for good reason. This seems to undermine all that. It stinks.' Attorney General Dominic Grieve has . asked the Commission to overhaul contempt laws which could include a . new criminal offence of researching cases on the internet. The Times reported that jurors often google judges and barristers in the case, discussing their courtroom performances, previous trials they have been involved in and their reputations. Last year a juror who caused a trial to be stopped because she researched a defendant’s past on the internet was jailed for six months. Lecturer Theodora Dallas, 34, turned to the web while trying a man for grievous bodily harm.She discovered he had previously been acquitted of rape – information not given during his assault trial at Luton Crown Court. Dallas shared her findings with her fellow jurors who informed the judge – and the trial of Barry Medlock, 64, a violent drinker, was halted. Andrew Walker, QC, chairman of the Bar Council committee, told the Times that new guidelines would be agreed soon, but would not signal if they would include a ban. He said:' I would expect all barristers to uphold the highest standards of ethical behaviour.'
revealed that jurors regularly use the internet to research defendants and are often ignorant Westminster who sits at Southwark Crown Court, google judges and barristers in the case,