The UK Ministry of Justice said it will abandon plans to send cases likely to draw a sentence of under three years to a judge sitting alone, while keeping judge-only trials for some complex fraud cases and wider powers for magistrates.
Britain will scrap plans to remove the right to trial by jury in less serious criminal cases, the Ministry of Justice said on Sunday, after sustained criticism from lawyers and politicians. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he had changed course after hearing the strength of feeling about proposals to increase the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court.
The abandoned plan, first set out by former justice secretary David Lammy, would have reserved jury trials for the most serious indictable offences and allowed a judge sitting alone to decide cases expected to draw a sentence of no more than three years. BBC News reported that the change comes under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, after the proposals were introduced by Sir Keir Starmer's government.
The ministry said complex fraud and financial cases could still be heard without a jury, an idea a government-commissioned review this year had rejected. It also intends to keep plans to expand sentencing powers for magistrates and to remove a defendant's right to elect jury trial in either-way offences, leaving that allocation decision with magistrates. Reuters reported that lawyers welcomed the main reversal but raised concerns about those remaining changes.
The Guardian reported almost 81,000 cases waiting in the Crown Court, with the backlog projected to reach 100,000 without the now-dropped changes. Ministers argued that abandoning a new judge-only division would itself save time. Critics said dropping the plan leaves victims and defendants waiting longer.
Criminal Bar Association chair Andrew Thomas thanked the government for listening, while warning that a severe threat to jury trial remained. The Conservatives called the reversal a major victory for those who defended trial by jury. Legislation has not yet set the final scope of the fraud and magistrates provisions.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Criminal Bar Association chair Andrew Thomas thanked ministers for listening
- The Conservatives called the reversal a major victory for jury trial
- Lawyers warned that fraud cases and wider magistrates' powers still threaten the right to a jury