Ministers drop plan for judge-only trials under three years

• The government will drop its proposal for judge-only trials in cases likely to receive a sentence of three years or less.¹
• Some lengthy, technical fraud and financial cases could still be heard by a judge without a jury.¹
• Courts will still decide where some “either-way” offences are tried, removing defendants’ right to choose a Crown Court jury trial in those cases.²
• The Courts and Tribunals Bill is scheduled to return to the Commons on 13 October; the government says it will amend the Bill then.³

Ministers have abandoned the central part of their plan to replace juries with judges in less serious Crown Court cases. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said on 4 October that he had changed course after hearing the strength of feeling over the proposals.¹

The previous plan would have sent cases likely to attract a sentence of up to three years to a judge sitting alone. The reversal followed strong opposition from lawyers and campaigners, and criticism from some Labour MPs. The Ministry of Justice says dropping the measure will let it move faster on other reforms to tackle court delays.¹⁴

The change does not restore jury choice in every case. For some “either-way” offences, which can be tried in either a magistrates’ court or the Crown Court, the government still intends courts to decide where the case is heard. It also plans to give magistrates greater sentencing powers.¹²

A separate judge-only route remains possible for some lengthy, technical fraud and financial cases. The government has not set out the final list of offences that would qualify. The Bill currently published by Parliament contains the earlier proposals, including a schedule listing offences; it should not be treated as the final version of the government’s new plan.¹⁵

The Bill is due back in the Commons for Report Stage and Third Reading on 13 October. Parliament says amendments can be made at Report Stage. The government has said it will change the Bill, but its 4 October announcement did not include the revised wording.¹³

The stakes are set by the scale of the delays: the Ministry of Justice said nearly 81,000 cases were waiting in the Crown Court, with almost a third waiting at least a year. The government says its remaining reforms, investment and efficiency measures will help cut the backlog. Victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman questioned whether the measures left in place would be enough; legal bodies welcomed the reversal while raising concerns about sending more cases to magistrates’ courts.¹⁴

Footnotes

1. Ministry of Justice, “Justice reforms to be rolled out faster as Justice Secretary sets out changes to Courts Bill” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. The Guardian, “Ministers drop plans to cut jury trials in England and Wales after outcry” ↩ ↩²

3. UK Parliament, Courts and Tribunals Bill: latest news and stage information ↩ ↩²

4. Sky News, “Andy Burnham scraps Starmer-era plan to curb jury trials” ↩ ↩²

5. UK Parliament, Courts and Tribunals Bill, reintroduced at Report Stage ↩