Group of Labour MPs warns Starmer over jury trial limits
Nearly 40 Labor MPs have warned the prime minister they are not prepared to support proposals to limit jury trials.
The plans are “not a magic solution” to reducing the backlog of cases, MPs who are largely, but not entirely, from the left of the party say in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer.
“Limiting a fundamental right that will make a marginal difference to the backlog is insane and will cause more problems than it solves,” they write.
Sir Keir has previously responded to MPs’ concerns about the plans by saying jury trials make up only a small proportion of trials in the criminal courts system.
He told the letter’s organizer, Karl Turner, in the House of Commons last week that “juries will remain the cornerstone of our justice system in the most serious cases”.
The 39 MPs include such prominent figures as former Tribune Labor whip Diane Abbott and its leader Vicky Foxcroft, and Dan Carden, who leads the Blue Labor group of backbenchers.
They suggest a number of other ways to reduce the court’s backlog, including increasing hearing days, hiring more lawyers as part-time judges called Recorders, and asking the Crown Prosecution Service to consider bringing some of the backlog’s cases on for a lower fee.
Justice Minister David Lammy announced the measure on December 3. Jury trials in England and Wales are being abolished for offenses likely to carry a sentence of less than three years, removing the right of defendants to seek a jury trial, where a case could be heard by magistrates or a new form of Crown Court made up of judges only.
The measure comes after retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to put forward a set of proposals to reduce court congestion.
The process started in December 2024. In July this year Sir Brian said “fundamental” reforms were needed to “reduce the risk of a complete collapse of the system”. Their recommendations also included out-of-court settlements such as habeas corpus.
Announcing the jury trial measure, Lammy said it was necessary as current forecasts see the Crown Court caseload reaching 100,000 by 2028, from the current backlog of 78,000.
This means that a suspect accused of a crime today could not be tried until 2030. Among the effects of this, it is said that six in 10 rape victims withdraw from investigations due to delays.
