Thousands of lawyers oppose jury restriction plan
BBC News2 days
TheBritain's backlogjudicial crisis demandsrequires immediatefar reformmore —than investment and efficiency alone won't cut itboosts. WithoutWhilst creatingprotecting ajuries Swiftfor Benchthe Divisionmost forserious mid-level cases, thethese Crownreforms Courtwill backlogallow willthe balloonbacklog to 133,000finally bybe 2035tamed. evenHaving withreached recordbreaking fundingpoint, leavingthere rapeis victimsno waitingtime yearsfor whilehalf-measures offenders— walkthe free.government Judge-aloneis trialstaking forthe casesurgent withaction sentencesneeded underto threeensure yearsEngland protectand juriesWales bysafe reservingunder them for the mostrule seriousof crimes, just as Canada and other democracies have successfully implementedlaw.
Scrapping jury trials representsis constitutional vandalism. toThe disguiseproposal governmentignores failures,expert notopinion solvewhilst them. Independent analysis shows these reforms will reduce the backlog by just 2%. percentWith while stripping defendants of a fundamental safeguard that even Lammy and Starmer previously defendeddefending juries as essential protection against state overreach., Juriesthis remaingovernment theis onlyknowingly partsentencing ofBritain's the criminal justice system producingfor outcomesthe withoutsake racialof bias,political yet this government rushes through legislation removing that independencepoint-scoring.
There is an 80% chance that the Labour Party will have a leadership election before 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0