Key facts
- Justice Secretary David Lammy plans to effectively halve jury trials in England and Wales.
- Cases with a likely sentence under three years would shift to judge-only trials.
- The changes aim to address a backlog of 78,000 Crown Court cases.
- Critics argue the backlog is caused by underfunding and cuts, not jury trials.
- The Law Society of England and Wales called the proposals a fundamental change that goes too far.
Justice Secretary David Lammy has proposed significant changes to the criminal justice system in England and Wales, which critics argue would effectively halve the number of jury trials. The proposals aim to address a substantial backlog of 78,000 Crown Court cases by shifting cases with a likely sentence of less than three years to judge-only trials. Only the most serious offenses, such as murder and rape, would retain lay participation.
Legal professionals and commentators have strongly criticized the plans, viewing them as an extreme departure from established legal principles and a departure from the recommendations of Sir Brian Leveson's review. Sir Brian had suggested a new intermediate tier of court where a judge would sit with two magistrates for most 'either-way' offenses, a move that would retain lay involvement while potentially speeding up trials. Lammy's proposals, however, would remove this lay element for a broad category of crimes.
Critics, including the Law Society of England and Wales and former lord chief justice Lord Thomas, argue that the jury system is not the cause of the justice system's delays. They attribute the backlog to two decades of underfunding and cuts to courts, staff, judges, legal aid, and the Crown Prosecution Service. Professor Cheryl Thomas KC stated that the issue is "20 years of disinvestment in the criminal justice system across the board." The Law Society's president, Mark Evans, described the proposals as a "fundamental change to how our criminal justice system operates and it goes too far," emphasizing that the concept of justice rests heavily on lay participation.
Kirsty Brimelow KC, vice-chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, noted a lack of evidence that the proposed changes would significantly reduce the backlog, as they have not been piloted. Professor Michael Zander KC's research from over 30 years ago also concluded that trial by jury is fit for purpose. The Guardian editorial warned that removing jury trials for offenses under three years could open the door to raising that limit further, potentially weakening the justice system and forfeiting Labour's "moral inheritance."