Lammy to address ‘court emergency’ but expected to safeguard jury system – UK politics live | Politics
Good morning. David LammyThe deputy prime minister and justice secretary will today announce plans to reduce the use of jury trials in England and Wales. Considering that the number of cases to be heard in the courts has reached 78,000 and is approaching 100,000, Lammy will argue that serious steps must be taken to overcome the “emergency situation in the courts”.
Full details will not be released until Lammy stands up in the House of Commons. It was stated that the Ministry of Justice took the principle of ‘the parliament should be informed first’ on this issue a little more seriously than some other ministries, and the press briefing held throughout the night was a little far from details. But Lammy also gave An interview with the Timesand written An article in the Daily Telegraphand we know roughly where the decision came down to.
In July, Sir Brian Leveson, a senior judge, published a report for the government recommending that “either way” crimes, where the defendant currently has the choice of having the case heard by a magistrate or a jury in a crown court, should instead be tried under a new system where one judge sits alongside two magistrates. According to the Times, Lammy proposes to go further than Leveson and to have these cases heard by judges alone.
But from another perspective, Lammy seems to have retreated. Last week it emerged that he had circulated a document to colleagues proposing that jury trials be abolished in all cases except those of alleged rapists and murderers. This created a huge backlash and Lammy reportedly had second thoughts. For once, that statement turned out to be true, when Downing Street responded to the leak last week by saying no final decision had been taken.
According to the leak, Lammy told colleagues privately that there was “no right” to pursue a jury in the UK. He tells the Times today that he was the one who saved the jury system. He says:
I will not stand up in Parliament and announce that we are abolishing jury trials, which remain a fundamental part of our system and one of the great contributions from Magna Carta – indeed to the common law and to the global community. This is about saving the jury system.
And in a rare example of a minister interested in constitutional history, he also argues that his changes are in line with the spirit of Magna Carta. He says in the Telegraph:
Some argue that the reform is an attack on the traditions that define our legal system. They reach back to Runnymede and Magna Carta, insisting that nothing should disturb the regulations of centuries past. These are big claims, but they miss what Magna Carta actually says. Article 39 promises the judgment of our peers and the law of the land, and most importantly Article 40 warns that we will not delay or deny right or justice to anyone.
Justice is denied when a victim waits years for a hearing, when courts are so propped up that criminals fear impunity, when an innocent person remains under a cloud of blame. Magna Carta was a protest against the failure of the state. If its authors had seen the delays experienced in our courts today, they would not have forced us to adhere rigidly to tradition. They would demand action.
Here is the agenda of the day.
9.30: Keir Starmer chair cabinet.
10am: The OECD publishes its latest economic outlook, including forecasts for the UK.
10am: David Miles and Tom Josephs, the two most senior people to leave the Office for Budget Responsibility following the resignation of Chairman Richard Hughes, are giving evidence to the House of Commons Treasury committee.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch visits London.
11.30: Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper answers questions in the House of Commons.
After 12.30: Deputy prime minister and justice minister David Lammy is expected to make a statement to MPs about plans to block the use of jury trials.
14:00: The public accounts committee will publish responses from the Crown Estate and Treasury to questions about the rent arrangements at Royal Lodge, the home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
2.30pm: Education secretary Bridget Phillipson gives evidence to the Commons education committee.
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