Justice secretary wants most jury trials scrapped

Justice Secretary David Lammy is proposing to greatly restrict the ancient right to a jury trial, guaranteeing it only to defendants facing rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases that pass the public interest test.

An internal government briefing prepared by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for all other Whitehall departments has confirmed plans to create a new tier of jury-free trials in England and Wales.

The new courts will deal with many of the crimes currently considered by juries at the Crown Court.

However, the Ministry of Justice said that no final decision has been taken by the government.

Plans obtained by BBC News show Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, wants to ask Parliament to end jury trials for defendants facing up to five years in prison.

The proposals are an attempt to end unprecedented delays and backlogs in the courts and do not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

A Ministry of Justice presentation prepared earlier this month reveals the Crown Courts are facing record backlogs, with more than 78,000 cases waiting to be completed.

In practice, this means that suspects charged with serious crimes today may not be tried until late 2029 or early 2030.

Officials predict in the document that the caseload will rise above 100,000 before then unless further action is taken.

Retired Court of Appeal judge earlier this year Sir Brian Leveson has recommended the government end jury trials for many serious crimesthese could be handled by a judge alone or sitting with two judges, he said.

This will be achieved by creating a new tier of intermediate criminal courts called the “Crown Courts Courts Division” (CCBD), located between the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Courts, where juries decide cases.

Sir Brian suggested that the CCBD would hear cases involving defendants sentenced to up to three years in prison.

“DPMs [deputy prime minister’s] The “decision”, according to the leaked Ministry of Justice document, was “to go further than Sir Brian’s to achieve maximum effect”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM program on Tuesday, Sir Brian said he was “not prepared to comment” on the government’s “hypothetical” unpublished plans.

But he said “significant, structural change is essential”, adding: “Our criminal justice system is at crisis point.”

He added that the second part of the Independent Review of Criminal Courts book will be published soon.

The document states that Lammy wants: “In cases involving fraud and financial crimes, the trial should only be initiated by the judge – if the judge considers the case to be appropriately technical and lengthy. Rape, murder, manslaughter and public interest are excluded.”

The document said the CCBD would be introduced “as a subordinate tier of the Crown Court, which hears only cases that are likely to attract a prison sentence of up to five years by a judge”.

This means that while murder, manslaughter and rape are guaranteed jury trials, nearly all defendants facing serious crimes will be tried by only one judge.

The document continues: “The reforms will increase timeliness at the Crown Court through extra hearing time… [and] Do not compromise on the right to a fair trial; There is no right to a jury trial.”

Officials say Lammy has embarked on a “writing tour” – Whitehall jargon – to get final cross-Cabinet and cross-departmental approval before going public.

Assuming it gets this approval, an announcement will come in December with legislation in the new year.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “No final decision has been taken by the government. With a growing backlog of 78,000 cases in the courts causing pain and suffering to victims, we have been clear that there is a crisis that will require bold action to remedy this situation.”

However, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, President of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents criminal lawyers, said the proposals would not solve the crisis in justice.

He said: “What they are suggesting simply will not work – it is not the magic pill they promised.

“The consequences of their actions will be to destroy justice as we know it and the criminal justice system that has been the pride of this country for centuries.

“The backlog is not caused by juries. It is by years of systematic underfunding and neglect by this government and its predecessors.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized the proposals, arguing that juries “put ordinary men and women from all walks of life at the center of justice”.

Writing about X, he described Labour’s plans as “a short-term decision that puts justice at risk, erodes public trust and erodes the foundations of our justice system”.

“Conservatives believe in our traditions, and we believe in trial by jury,” he added.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller MP described the plans as “utterly disgraceful” and accused the UK Government of “collapsing our justice system and failing victims in the process”.

He said the Liberal Democrats were calling on the government to “reconsider” its plans “as a matter of urgency”.