David Lammy in embarrassing u-turn as fury explodes over jury trials | Politics | News

David Lammy has been forced to make a humiliating U-turn after abandoning the most controversial part of his plan to eliminate thousands of jury trials.

Judges will decide guilt in new so-called “Speedy Courts” in cases “requiring a sentence of three years or less”, the Justice Minister told MPs.

Plans leaked last week revealed the Deputy Prime Minister wanted to go further, with juries only hearing “public interest cases” involving murder, rape, manslaughter and those carrying sentences of five years or more.

This sparked outrage from lawyers, judges and rival political parties.

Under Mr Lammy’s new plans, some sexual assault, burglary, drug dealing and robbery cases will now be heard by a single judge.

Department of Justice modeling suggests the number of cases going to jury trial will be halved.

But the plan sparked fresh outrage, with Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick saying: “Last year, the entire budget for courts and legal aid was £5.5bn.

“It’s almost the same amount of money we spend on illegal immigrants (£5.4bn).

“He defends their rights under the ECHR but not our rights under Magna Carta.

“So why? He can’t even guarantee that this will reduce the workload at the court in 4 years.

“With this Minister of Justice, everything is delayed and justice is denied.”

And the senior Conservative Party revealed that both the Prime Minister (the former Director of Public Prosecutions) and the Justice Secretary had previously opposed reforms to jury trials.

Mr Jenrick also blasted Mr Lammy for finally responding to a major justice crisis in Parliament.

He told MPs: “Parlak did not bother to come to Parliament to inform the country when 12 prisoners were mistakenly released after their new checks came into force.

“Later, when I asked why my Ministry was paying compensation to the terrorists in prison, he did not come.

“When news of plans to cancel jury trials mysteriously emerged in the press last week, he was nowhere to be seen.

“He was an escaped man, just like the prisoners on his watch.

“The Lammy Dodger of this sad farce on behalf of the government.”

Outlining his plans, Mr Lammy told Parliament: “I will create new ‘Fast Courts’ within the Crown Court, with a single judge making decisions in cases that can be tried either way, possibly in cases with sentences of three years or less. Sir Brian estimates these will deliver justice at least 20 per cent faster than jury trials.”

“Sir Brian also proposes restricting defendants’ right to choose in jury trials.

“Our world’s leading judges should hear the most serious cases.

“And I agree that they and the judges should decide where the case will be heard. This will prevent defendants from gaming the system: choosing the court they think has the best chance of success… …and dragging out the process hoping the victims give up.”

The Crown Court’s backlog could continue to worsen despite Mr Lammy’s radical reforms, which critics warn could fail victims or lead to a perversion of justice.

Ministry of Justice figures show a record backlog of more than 78,000 crown court cases, with cases listed until 2030.

Ministers have warned that the backlog could rise to 100,000 by 2028 if nothing is done, with a growing number of victims giving up on seeking justice due to long delays.

Mr Lammy told MPs: “The backlog will get worse before it gets better.

“But we are pulling every lever possible to move this in a positive direction, and my desire is that the backlog will start to reduce by the end of this Parliament.”

And the under-fire Justice Secretary stressed that jury trials will remain the “cornerstone” of the UK legal system, while judges’ sentencing powers will be extended.

They can jail offenders for 18 months, but Mr Lammy admitted he could extend that period to two years.

He said: “Alongside these changes, we will extend magistrates’ sentencing powers to 18 months, so they can take on more lower-level offenses and ease pressure on the Crown Court. “I will also take the power to extend this period to 2 years.

“These reforms are bold. But necessary. I am confident that jury trials will remain the cornerstone of the system for the most serious offences… …those likely to attract a prison sentence of more than three years… …and all indictable offenses alone. These will include, among others: Rape, murder, manslaughter… …grievous bodily harm, robbery and arson with intent to kill.”

The Justice Department will eliminate defendants’ right to “choose” a jury trial for so-called “both crimes.”

They believe this will end the “emergency” gripping the Crown Court system, with trials planned for 2029 or 2030.

Magistrates will first consider a case and if the case is “likely” to result in a prison sentence of three years or less, the case will be heard by either a magistrate or the new Crown Court Bench Division.

None of this will need a jury, it turns out.

However, judges in the Crown Court Bench Division will have full sentencing power; This means that if the evidence in a case shows that a longer prison sentence is necessary, the judge can use these powers and imprison the offender for a longer period of time.

This means that a single judge, when hearing a sexual assault case, can hear all the evidence, convict and sentence an offender to four or five years in prison.

Justice chiefs believe it will still be years before the Crown Court backlog is reduced. The policy of eliminating jury trials will be deemed successful if the backlog begins to reduce by the end of this Parliament (in 2029). The Bar Council has called on juries not to be replaced by single judges, warning that this could damage public confidence.

Mr Jenrick hit back, telling the Commons: “Why does this Justice Secretary think he has the power to dismantle centuries of jury trials without ever mentioning it in his party’s manifesto?

“In his twisted logic, he says he will scrap juries to save them, but make no mistake, if the Minister of Justice gets away with this, it will be the beginning of the end of jury trials.”

Mr Jenrick added that it had been 800 years since the Magna Carta and “we have yet another unpopular leader who does not listen to his subjects”.

He said: “Our ancestors did not prevent the evil King John from being destroyed 800 years later by this Prime Minister and his court jester.”

Mr Lammy said the changes were necessary because the previous Tory government had cut court sitting days and judges already dealt with the vast majority of cases in the UK.

He said: “He also knows that the Conservatives suspended juries in libel cases in 2013. In 1933 we had juries sitting in civil cases.

“So of course we are reforming to meet the needs of the system.”