Jury trials could be voided except in the most serious cases

Justice Secretary David Lammy proposes massively restricting the long-standing right to a jury trial by guaranteeing it only to defendants facing rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases that pass a public interest test.

An internal government report, produced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for all other Whitehall departments, confirms plans to create a new level of non-jury courts in England and Wales.

The new courts would deal with most of the crimes currently heard by Crown Court juries.

But the Justice Ministry said the government had not made any final decision.

The plans, obtained by BBC News, show that Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, wants to ask Parliament to end 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.

The Ministry of Justice submission, made earlier this month, states that 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 might not have a trial until late 2029 or early 2030.

Officials predict in the document that the number of cases will rise to more than 100,000 before then unless more action is taken.

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

This would be done by creating a new intermediate level of criminal court, called the “Crown Court Division” (CCBD), located between the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Courts, where juries decide cases.

The CCBD will hear cases of defendants facing sentences of up to three years, Sir Brian recommended.

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

The document says Lammy wants: “Introduce a judge-only trial for fraud and financial crime cases, if the judge considers the case to be sufficiently technical and lengthy. Exclusions for rape, murder, manslaughter and public interest.”

The CCBD would be introduced “as a lower tier of the Crown Court which hears cases likely to receive a sentence of up to five years by a single judge”, according to the document.

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

The document continues: “The reforms will improve punctuality at the Crown Court through additional time for hearings… [and] does not compromise the right to a fair trial; “There is no right to a jury trial.”

Officials say Lammy has started the “writing round”, Whitehall jargon for getting final approval between Cabinet and departments before going public.

Assuming it gets that approval, the announcement would be made in December and the legislation would be approved in the New Year.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government has not made any final decisions. We have made it clear that there is a crisis in the courts, causing pain and distress to victims – with 78,000 cases backlogged and rising – which will require bold action to correct.”

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

She said: “What they are proposing simply won’t work – it is not the magic pill they promise.

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

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

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

Writing in

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