David Lammy says he plans to cut jury trials in keeping with Magna Carta, which was also a response to ‘state failure’.
Good morning. David LammyThe Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary will today unveil plans to reduce the use of jury trials in England and Wales. The number of cases pending for hearing in the courts is already at 78,000, and with the number of cases reaching 100,000, Lammy will argue that drastic action is needed to deal with the “court emergency”.
Full details will not be revealed until Lammy stands in the Commons. The Ministry of Justice has on this occasion been taking the principle that “Parliament must be told first” a little more seriously than some other government departments, and the overnight press conference was slightly lacking in detail. But Lammy has also given an interview to the Times, and written an article for the Daily Telegraph, and we know roughly where the decision is reached.
In July, Sir Brian Leveson, a senior judge, published a report for the government recommending that “by no means” offences, where the defendant can currently choose between having the case heard by a magistrate or by a jury in the Crown Court, should be heard in a new system, with one judge sitting alongside two magistrates. According to the Times, Lammy has proposed going even further than Leveson – proposing that these cases should be heard by judges sitting alone.
But in another matter Lammy seems to have backtracked. Last week it emerged that he distributed a paper to colleagues proposing that jury trials should be abolished for all cases except those involving alleged rapists and murderers. This caused a massive backlash and Lammy reportedly had second thoughts. When Downing Street responded to the leak last week by saying that no final decision had been taken, that phrase proved true for once.
According to the leak, Lammy privately told colleagues that there was “no right” to a jury trial in England. Today he tells the Times that he is saving the jury system. He says:
I will not stand up in Parliament… and announce that we are abolishing jury trials, which remains a fundamental part of our system, and is one of the great contributions to come out of 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 taking an interest in constitutional history, he also argues that his changes are in keeping with the spirit of Magna Carta. In the Telegraph he says:
Some argue that the reforms are an attack on the traditions that define our legal system. They reach back to Runnymede and Magna Carta, insisting that nothing should disturb the order of previous centuries. These are big claims but they ignore what Magna Carta actually says. Clause 39 promises judgment of our peers and the law of the land and, importantly, Clause 40 warns that we will not delay or deny rights or justice to anyone.
When a victim waits for years for a trial, when the courts are so strong that criminals do not fear punishment, when an innocent person sits accused – justice is not served. Magna Carta was a protest against the failure of the state. If its authors had seen the delays in our courts today, they would not have urged us to stick rigidly to tradition. They will demand action.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30 am: Keir Starmer is Chairman of the Cabinet.
10 am: The OECD publishes its latest economic outlook, including a forecast for the UK.
10 am: David Miles and Tom Joseph, the two most senior people left in the office with budget responsibility following the resignation of Speaker Richard Hughes, give evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is visiting London.
11.30 am: The Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, takes questions in the Commons.
After 12.30 pm: The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy is expected to give a statement to MPs about plans to curb the use of jury trials.
at 2 pm: The Public Accounts Committee is to publish a response from the Crown Estate and the Treasury to questions regarding the lease arrangements for the Royal Lodge, home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
2.30pm: The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, gives evidence to the Commons Education Committee.
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