The Ministry of Justice said Britain will abandon plans to remove jury trial for less serious cases likely to draw sentences under three years, while other court changes remain.
Britain will scrap plans to remove the right to trial by jury for defendants in less serious criminal cases, the government announced on Sunday, Reuters reported. The decision reverses a policy associated with former prime minister Keir Starmer.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the government had heard the strength of feeling on increasing judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and would change course. Plans to curb jury trials where a jail sentence was likely to be less than three years will be abandoned.
The Criminal Bar Association and other groups broadly welcomed that step. Chair Andrew Thomas thanked ministers for listening, but said a severe threat to trial by jury remained. Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow warned that giving magistrates greater sentencing powers while their own backlog is rising could be counterproductive.
The Crown Court backlog in England and Wales was nearly 81,000 cases at the end of June, almost double the 2020 figure, Reuters reported. Victims, defendants and witnesses often wait years. 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.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, made the shift as the justice system also released hundreds of prisoners early to keep prisons from filling. Lawyers argue under-investment, not juries, is the main cause of delay.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Alex Norris said he had heard the strength of feeling and decided to change course.
- Andrew Thomas said the government had reached the right verdict but a severe threat to jury trial remained.
- Kirsty Brimelow said greater powers for magistrates could be counterproductive.