A petition was circulated in 1819 seeking both trial by civilian jury and the establishment of representative government. This was one of the matters considered by Commissioner Bigge in his second report, who recommended against trial by a civilian jury. The House of Commons had narrowly defeated a proposal that civilian juries be introduced for criminal trials, prior to passing the Act which prescribed military juries for criminal trials before the Supreme Court.
In 1819, a petition was circulated advocating for both civilian jury trials and representative government. Commissioner Bigge's second report considered this issue, but he advised against using civilian juries. The House of Commons initially rejected a proposal to introduce civilian juries for criminal cases before ultimately passing an Act that mandated military juries for such trials in the Supreme Court.