Key facts
- Britain will scrap plans to remove the right to trial by jury for defendants in less serious criminal cases.
- Justice Secretary Alex Norris announced the decision to abandon the proposals.
- The government will maintain plans for complex fraud trials to be heard by a judge alone.
- The backlog of cases awaiting trial by jury in Crown Courts in England and Wales was nearly 81,000 at the end of June.
Britain will abandon controversial plans to remove the right to trial by jury for defendants in less serious criminal cases, the government announced on Sunday. The decision follows sustained criticism from lawyers and politicians who argued the proposals curtailed a fundamental right.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris stated he had heard the "strength of feeling" and decided to "change course" on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court. The Ministry of Justice confirmed that plans to curb jury trials for cases where a jail sentence was likely to be less than three years would be abandoned.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) welcomed the government's decision, with chair Andrew Thomas thanking them for "listening to the evidence and reaching the right verdict." However, he cautioned that "a severe threat to our trial by jury remains."
Lawyers also raised concerns about the Ministry of Justice's decision to increase sentencing powers for magistrates, who hear trials for minor offenses without a jury, and the removal of defendants' right to elect trial by jury. Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow agreed, suggesting that giving magistrates greater powers amid an increasing backlog in magistrates' courts could be counterproductive.
The backlog of cases awaiting trial by jury in Crown Courts in England and Wales stood at nearly 81,000 at the end of June, almost double the figure in 2020. Victims, defendants, and witnesses often wait years for cases to come to trial.
Critics argued that years of neglect and under-investment by successive governments, rather than jury trials, were the root cause of delays. The head of England's judiciary had also raised "grave security concerns" for judges.
The Ministry of Justice said it would maintain plans for complex fraud trials to be heard by a judge alone, a proposal long mooted to avoid jurors sitting on lengthy cases, though a government-commissioned review this year rejected the idea.