37 minutes agoShareSaveDominic CascianiHome and legal correspondentShareSaveThe government is set to announce plans to restrict the right to a jury trial in England and Wales in an attempt to turn around unprecedented backlogs and delays in justice.David Lammy, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, will lay out the proposals in Parliament later on Tuesday.But he has insisted that juries would remain a “fundamental part of the criminal justice system”.It is not clear if the plan – which would end jury trials other than for most serious cases including murder – has been approved by Cabinet or retreated from.Last week his final “decision”, contained in a document circulated around government, was leaked to the BBC and The Times.The proposals to cut jury trials are based on recommendations from a senior retired judge, who advised ministers that the reform would help tackle delays.There are currently 78,000 cases waiting to be completed in Crown Courts. In practice, this means that some suspects being charged with serious crimes today may not have a trial until late 2029 or early 2030. Officials predict the caseload will grow to more than 100,000 before then, unless there is further action.Last week’s leak of an internal government briefing showed final Ministry of Justice plans to create new forms of jury-less trials, where cases would be decided by a judge alone. Jury trial would therefore end for the majority of crimes currently before Crown Courts – including theft, most drugs, violent and sexual offences and fraud.Cases would only definitely go before a jury if the defendant was likely to be jailed for more than five years or was accused of murder, manslaughter or rape.Volunteer magistrates – who handle the overwhelming majority of criminal cases in the lowest courts – would see their sentencing powers doubled to two years.The leaked plan does not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland and was circulated to other departments before final Cabinet sign off. It goes further than recommendations earlier this year from retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson.Lammy has not confirmed the package, but said there would be an extra £550m over three years for specialist victim support services – and £34m aimed at attracting more barristers into criminal work.Speaking to BBC Breakfast ahead of the announcement on Tuesday, he said that juries were, and would remain, a “fundamental part of our justice system” and paid tribute to the 350,000 people who serve in them every year.But he suggested that magistrates could be used in their place for less serious crimes in order to bring the Crown Court backlog down. “If you steal a phone, a trial could take two days, and lead to delays for more serious offences like rape or murder,” he said.Lammy has previ …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn37 minutes agoShareSaveDominic CascianiHome and legal correspondentShareSaveThe government is set to announce plans to restrict the right to a jury trial in England and Wales in an attempt to turn around unprecedented backlogs and delays in justice.David Lammy, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, will lay out the proposals in Parliament later on Tuesday.But he has insisted that juries would remain a “fundamental part of the criminal justice system”.It is not clear if the plan – which would end jury trials other than for most serious cases including murder – has been approved by Cabinet or retreated from.Last week his final “decision”, contained in a document circulated around government, was leaked to the BBC and The Times.The proposals to cut jury trials are based on recommendations from a senior retired judge, who advised ministers that the reform would help tackle delays.There are currently 78,000 cases waiting to be completed in Crown Courts. In practice, this means that some suspects being charged with serious crimes today may not have a trial until late 2029 or early 2030. Officials predict the caseload will grow to more than 100,000 before then, unless there is further action.Last week’s leak of an internal government briefing showed final Ministry of Justice plans to create new forms of jury-less trials, where cases would be decided by a judge alone. Jury trial would therefore end for the majority of crimes currently before Crown Courts – including theft, most drugs, violent and sexual offences and fraud.Cases would only definitely go before a jury if the defendant was likely to be jailed for more than five years or was accused of murder, manslaughter or rape.Volunteer magistrates – who handle the overwhelming majority of criminal cases in the lowest courts – would see their sentencing powers doubled to two years.The leaked plan does not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland and was circulated to other departments before final Cabinet sign off. It goes further than recommendations earlier this year from retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson.Lammy has not confirmed the package, but said there would be an extra £550m over three years for specialist victim support services – and £34m aimed at attracting more barristers into criminal work.Speaking to BBC Breakfast ahead of the announcement on Tuesday, he said that juries were, and would remain, a “fundamental part of our justice system” and paid tribute to the 350,000 people who serve in them every year.But he suggested that magistrates could be used in their place for less serious crimes in order to bring the Crown Court backlog down. “If you steal a phone, a trial could take two days, and lead to delays for more serious offences like rape or murder,” he said.Lammy has previ …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
