The Ministry of Justice said Britain will abandon plans to remove jury trials in less serious Crown Court cases, while still proposing judge-only hearings for complex fraud and wider magistrate powers.
Britain will scrap plans to remove the right to trial by jury for defendants in less serious criminal cases, the government said on Sunday, Reuters reported. The proposals, first set out under the previous justice secretary, would have allowed judges alone to hear cases likely to draw sentences of less than three years.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he had heard the strength of feeling on increasing judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and had changed course. The Criminal Bar Association chair, Andrew Thomas, thanked the government for listening, while warning that a threat to jury trial remained.
The Ministry of Justice said complex fraud trials could still be heard by a judge alone, an idea a government-commissioned review this year rejected. Lawyers also raised concerns about higher sentencing powers for magistrates and the removal of a defendant's right to elect jury trial.
BBC News reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government was dropping the wider jury curb introduced under Sir Keir Starmer's administration, and that only complex fraud and financial offences would be judge-alone. The Conservatives called the shift a major victory for defenders of jury trial.
Norris said the government still wanted to cut the court backlog and deliver faster justice. No new timetable for the remaining fraud and magistrate measures was given in the Sunday announcements.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Criminal Bar Association chair Andrew Thomas thanked ministers for listening
- Conservatives called the reversal a major victory for jury trial