Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases

Justice Secretary David Lammy is proposing to broadly restrict the ancient right to a jury trial, which guarantees only defendants facing rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases must pass a public interest test.

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

The new courts will deal with the majority of crimes currently tried by juries in the Crown Court.

But the MoJ said no final decision had been taken by the government.

Plans obtained by BBC News show that Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, wants to ask Parliament to abolish jury trials for defendants, who would be jailed for up to five years.

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

An MoJ presentation prepared earlier this month shows 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 go to trial until the late 2029s or early 2030s.

Officials predict in the document that the caseload will exceed 100,000 before then if further action is not taken.

Earlier this year, retired Appeal Court judge Sir Brian Leveson recommended that the government abolish jury trials for many serious crimes, saying they could be dealt with by a judge alone or sitting with two magistrates.

This would be done by creating a new intermediate tier of criminal court, called the “Crown Court Bench Division” (CCBD), which would sit between the magistrates courts and the Crown Court, where a jury decides cases.

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

The “DPM (Deputy Prime Minister)’s decision”, according to the leaked MoJ document, “goes further than Sir Brian did to achieve maximum impact”.

The document states that Lammy wants: “Introduce hearings by a judge alone for cases involving fraud and financial crimes – if the judge considers the case suitably technical and lengthy. Exclude rape, murder, manslaughter and extradition for the public interest.”

The document states that the CCBD will be “introduced as a lower tier of the Crown Court which hears cases likely to result in a sentence of up to five years by a judge alone”.

This means that while jury trials will be guaranteed for murder, manslaughter and rape – almost all other defendants facing serious crimes will be tried by a judge alone.

The document continues: “The reforms will improve timeliness in the Crown Court through additional trial time… (and) will not compromise the right to a fair trial – there is no right to a jury trial.”

Officials say Lammy has begun the “right round” – Whitehall jargon – to get final cross-cabinet and departmental sign-off before going public.

Assuming they are approved, an announcement will come in December, with legislation being enacted in the new year.

An MOJ spokesperson said: “No final decision has been taken by the Government. We have been clear that there is a crisis in the courts, causing pain and suffering to victims – 78,000 cases are pending and rising – that will require bold action to fix.”

But Riel Carmi-Jones Casey, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents criminal barristers, said the proposals would not solve the crisis in justice.

She said: “What they propose won’t work – it’s not the magic pill they promise.

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

“Juries are not the cause of the backlog. The cause is the systematic underfunding and neglect that has been caused by this government and its predecessors for years.”

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

Writing on

He said, “Conservatives believe in our traditions and we believe in trial by jury.”