Confusion has emerged over whether proposed legislation to curb jury trials would apply retrospectively after the courts minister told MPs today that some defendants who opted for a jury trial could have their fate decided by a judge instead.
Courts minister Sarah Sackman told the House of Commons justice select committee that the changes will be applied to eligible cases where the trial has not commenced in the Crown court but are already in the system. However, committee member Sir Ashley Fox queried the minister’s response in light of what lord chancellor David Lammy told the committee last month.
In last month's evidence session, committee member Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst noted that there were currently 17,500 prisoners on remand and asked Lammy if the reforms would apply retrospectively. ‘No,’ Lammy replied.
Sackman told MPs Lammy’s response was in the context of remand hearings. However, Fox said that if a defendant has been committed to trial in the Crown court, they will be expecting a jury trial.
‘What you’re telling me is, once these changes take effect, you will divert those people committed but trial not started into the swift court. That is not what the lord chancellor said before Christmas. Most people would regard that as a retrospective change,’ Fox told the minister.
Sackman replied: ‘It’s a change in relation to the procedure that applies to those cases. They’re still getting a Crown court trial under the new proposals.’
2 Readers' comments