Quote Originally Posted by hoglahoo View Post
Ah, so if I understand correctly, the jury could do this but the judge would not have been able to?
That's right. Laws are very detailed (everything is in the books), and all cases are different, so even minute differences can make a difference in some cases. As a result, precedent is far less valuable in our system and In contrast to the US, judges don't have much leeway here and are obligated to follow the laws to the letter.

The US, in contrast, is based on case law and precedent (or so I was told by sicboater) which is is also why cases can get kicked up the ladder and appealed several times until it reaches the supreme court (if that should apply for the given case).