Lammy’s jury reforms could increase security threat to judges, head of judiciary warns
David Lammy’s plans to strip thousands of defendants of their right to a jury trial in favor of judge-only trials could threaten the safety of judges, the head of the judiciary has warned.
Chief Justice Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill said on Tuesday there were “serious security concerns” about controversial reforms to replace juries in England and Wales with a single judge in cases where a convicted defendant could be jailed for up to three years.
Reforms are being introduced to tackle a record backlog of cases in criminal courts that has led to some trials not being scheduled to start until 2030.
Baroness Carr told reporters: “My responsibility is to make as clear as I can that I have serious security concerns if hearings are held by judges only.
“It’s a very different environment to work in, and judges are often based in one main center, so they’re in and out of one center every day, rather than Supreme Court justices who are all over the country.”
Baroness Carr said she had “made a very, very strong case” that judicial security should be considered by the government.
He added: “I have been assured that everything has been heard, understood and resources will be made available.”
Asked how judges might be put at risk, he said he wasn’t too concerned about judges being intimidated, adding: “I don’t want to go into too much detail about where my concerns lie. In the broadest sense, I would say right now they’re going to be focusing on judges going to the same building every day.”
Baroness Carr pointed to Canada, which has a “gold standard” judicial security unit. “Individual measures are being taken for individual judges where necessary,” he said, concluding: “This is a huge problem and if you were to ask me about the dim lights of last year, security incidents and incidents would be one of them.”
He also highlighted the threat to judges online: “Social media abuse has now become bad when it comes to judges. Increasingly racist and misogynistic social media abuse is very difficult to control.”
Baroness Carr opened her annual press conference at the Royal Courts of Justice in London by paying tribute to court bailiff Jeff Blair, who was seriously injured at work in County Durham.
A man accused of murdering Mr Blair, who had previously worked as a police officer for 22 years, appeared in court for the first time on Monday.
Justice Secretary David Lammy’s reforms passed their first hurdle in Parliament last week after MPs voted to allow the Courts and Tribunals Bill. The bill passed with a majority of 101 votes, with 10 Labor MPs rebelling against the government.
Within the scope of the changes, the powers of judges will be increased, allowing the prison sentence to be increased from 12 months to 18 months, so that they can deal with more cases.
Plans for judge-only hearings will enable judges to decide cases involving grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and organized crime.
In 2024, a man was sentenced to three years in prison after throwing a radiator at family court judge Patrick Perusko and then pinning and punching him.
A year ago, the Lady Chief Justice publicly rebuked the prime minister and opposition leader for critical remarks in parliament about the immigration judge’s decision, saying judicial security was “at an all-time high”.
