The “once in a generation” changes to the jury system have been drawn up in an effort to tackle the record backlogs of court cases, now standing at nearly 80,000 in crown courts.
It means that some cases are now being scheduled for 2029, with defendants increasingly “playing the system” by pleading not guilty and choosing a jury trial in order to boost the chances of proceedings collapsing.
Mr Lammy wrote to ministers to say that there was “no right” to jury trials in the UK, and that drastic action was needed to cut the backlog of cases in crown courts in England and Wales.
It is anticipated that as many as 75 per cent of trials will be heard by a judge sitting alone instead of a jury under his proposals, contained in a briefing document headed “sensitive and official”.
It is understood that the Justice Secretary has retained Sir Brian’s proposal that lone judges should hear complex fraud, financial and cyber crime cases to end the need for juries to give up a year or more of their lives.
It is believed the trial to hear prospective prosecutions arising from the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire could be one of the first complex trials to be heard by a judge sitting alone.
‘No final decision taken by Government’
Last week Sarah Sackman, the justice minister, defended the need for radical reform, citing the fact that victims of severe sexual assault are now being routinely told it could take four years for their cases to reach court.
“Behind these 80,000 odd cases that are waiting in the backlog, there are individual stories and individual lives being put on hold,” she said. “No one is being served in the case that we saw. Not the accused, who’s currently being remanded in jail, not the victim who’s been waiting since she first reported her crime years ago.
“I’ve spoken to victims and survivors who tell me they’ve lost their jobs, they suffered mental breakdown all the while that they were waiting. More victims and witnesses are pulling out of the process because they cannot wait that long. That is a compelling illustration of justice delayed being justice denied.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “No final decision has been taken by Government. We have been clear there is a crisis in the courts, causing pain and anguish to victims, with 78,000 cases in the backlog and rising, which will require bold action to put right.”
