Lord chancellor and deputy prime minister David Lammy today unveiled his controversial plan to reduce the role of juries in criminal cases. Under the announcement, made to parliament at 1240: 

  • New ‘Swift Courts’, with a judge sitting alone will handle cases with a likely sentence of three years or less. The judge-only process is estimated to take 20% less time than a jury trial.
  • Handing courts the power to decide where cases are heard 'no longer allowing criminals to game the system and torment their victims'.
  • Guaranteed jury trials for the most serious and almost all indictable offences. These include rape, murder, aggravated burglary, blackmail, people trafficking, grievous bodily harm and the most serious drug offences.
  • Judge-only trials for particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences.
  • Giving magistrates the power to hand down sentences of up to 18 months so more cases can be heard by magistrates, freeing up Crown Court time for the most serious offences. This could go up to two years if needed, the Ministry of Justice said. 

Lammy said: 'Today I have set out a bold blueprint for a modern justice system that works for – not against – victims – one that is faster, fairer and finally capable of giving brave survivors of crime the justice they deserve.

'These reforms are bold and it will take time to turn the tide on the rising backlog, but these measures are necessary to tackle the emergency in our courts. We are putting victims before tradition for tradition’s sake and fairness before those who want to game the system.'

On top of the court reforms, the MoJ announced a £550 million investment in specialist  services giving practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses.

 Courts minister Sarah Sackman  said: 'I’ve seen first-hand how the delays we’ve inherited have had real-world impacts on victims who end up feeling paralysed and re-traumatised as their cases drag on. We’ve already invested record amounts but it’s clear that money alone is not enough. This reform is vital to ensuring that victims are able to move forward with their lives.'

 

 

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