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Snapshot 6:Tue, Mar 10, 2026 4:21:29 PM GMT last edited by Mr Bot

UK: Lawyers Send Open Letter to Starmer as Jury Trial Cut Faces Second Reading

UK: Lawyers Send Open Letter to Starmer as Jury Trial Cut Faces Second Reading

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The Spin

The backlog crisis demands immediate reform — investment and efficiency alone won't cut it. Without creating a Swift Bench Division for mid-level cases, the Crown Court backlog will balloon to 133,000 by 2035 even with record funding, leaving rape victims waiting years while offenders walk free. Judge-alone trials for cases with sentences under three years protect juries by reserving them for the most serious crimes, just as Canada and other democracies have successfully implemented.

Scrapping jury trials represents constitutional vandalism to disguise government failures, not solve them. Independent analysis shows these reforms will reduce the backlog by just 2 percent while stripping defendants of a fundamental safeguard that even Lammy and Starmer previously defended as essential protection against state overreach. Juries remain the only part of the criminal justice system producing outcomes without racial bias, yet this government rushes through legislation removing that independence.


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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0