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The court backlog will continue to rise until the government introduces fresh legislation, a minister has admitted after Andy Burnham scrapped the controversial plan to curb jury trials. The move was a U-turn on proposals introduced under Sir Keir Starmer ’s leadership in a bid to tackle the court backlog. Only some fraud and financial offences will now be allowed to be heard before a judge alone without a jury, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said on Sunday.
Justice secretary Alex Norris said he decided to “change course” after hearing the “strength of feeling on the proposals”. The plan faced opposition from MPs and legal professionals concerned over fairness, curtailing rights, and a lack of evidence the move would even help bring down the backlog. Alex Norris admitted the backlog would continue to rise (PA) Former justice secretary David Lammy, who championed the move, had told MPs the reforms were “desperately needed” to prevent victims facing “agonising delays”.
Another change announced by the MoJ will see criminals accused of “relatively minor crimes” losing the right to choose a Crown Court jury trial rather than a magistrates one, with courts having the final say on where “either-way” offences are sent. While Mr Norris insisted that scrapping the proposal would allow the government to reduce the backlog faster, as it would require less structural change, he refused to commit to a target for bringing the backlog down, and admitted it would continue to rise until legislation is passed. MoJ figures showed there were 80,829 cases still to be dealt with at the end of June, with the backlog almost doubling since 2020.
Asked whether he would commit to a target for bringing the backlog down, he said: "I wouldn't go as far as that... because the public are tired of hearing bombastic promises that then aren't kept. "I'm doing something better than that, which is I will be publishing our impact assessment as to what it will do on court delays, and it will show the trajectory because, of course, this will take time to go through Parliament. It will take time to implement.
"So cases will continue to rise until we have the legislation. But then they will see the significant falls over the next decade that this legislation drives. So rather than waiting for a big kind of, as I say, bombastic promise from me, they can they can see for themselves.” Mr Lammy wanted to reserve jury trials for “indictable-only” offences such as murder and rape, and lesser “either-way” offences with a likely sentence of more than three years in prison.
Other cases would instead have been heard by a single crown court judge. It was supported by MPs at the first Commons hurdle earlier this year. Announcing the scrapping of the plans, the justice secretary said: “This government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court.
“I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it. “But I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the crown court and have made the decision to change course. “This allows us to start that work far earlier, ensuring that under this government we do not have victims waiting endlessly for justice.
“Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment. I remain committed to structural reform which is crucial if we are to bring down the backlog.” Barrister Karl Turner, who had the Labour whip suspended after he criticised the plan, welcomed the decision, and thanked the Prime Minister “for his support during my campaign”. Mr Turner, MP for East Hull, told the Press Association he had “engaged directly with the justice secretary” about the issue in recent weeks.
The changes will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, due back in Parliament later this month. The proposed reforms were a response to recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson to overhaul the courts system. In his review, the former senior judge found there is “no constitutional or common law” right, or right within European human rights law, for a defendant to be tried by a jury, and so there was no need to limit reforms because of this.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy described the U-turn as a “major victory for everyone who fought to defend trial by jury”, adding: “Labour have been forced to abandon its central attack on jury trials in the Crown Court”. Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales said: “Too much time has been wasted to reach this common-sense position while the backlogs in the Crown and magistrates’ courts have remained unacceptably high. “Investment in infrastructure and technology is encouraging but this must be new money coming into the criminal justice system.
“We remain concerned that putting more cases into the magistrates’ court, which also faces record backlogs, without increasing capacity places even greater strain on an already overburdened system and risks serious cases facing summary justice.” Claire Waxman, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, said victims “are being asked to place their faith in a plan that ministers themselves previously argued would not be (enough).” Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said the proposal “should never have been introduced in the first place”, while Green MP Sian Berry said the U-turn is “a victory for justice and fairness”.
Source: The Independent
