More than 3,200 lawyers urge Starmer to rethink jury trial reforms

As MPs prepare to debate legislation today that will curb the right to a jury trial, more than 3,200 lawyers - including 20 retired judges, 15% of all silks and high-profile TV personalities – have urged the prime minister to listen to the profession and rethink.

The letter, organised by the Bar Council, to Keir Starmer says: ‘Instead of draining valuable time and resources attempting to force through an unpopular, untested and poorly evidenced change to our jury system - and one that will only have effect, if any, in 2028/2029 - we urge the government to focus on the changes we know will make a difference now, many of which are set out in detail in Part 2 of the Leveson review.'

The letter notes that substantial delays arise at the pre-court stage. 'For example, for all rape cases, the median time from offence to completion is 1,056 days (35 months), of which just 365 days (12 months) represents the median court time (from receipt in the Crown Court to completion),' Starmer is told.

Signatories include former CPS chief and retired High Court judge Sir David Calvert-Smith, who was instructed by the Post Office to lead a review in 2020 of over 900 prosecutions of postmasters by the Post Office. TV host Robert Rinder, Shaun Wallace, a ‘chaser’ on ITV quiz show ‘The Chase’ and barristers Harriet Tyce and Hugo Lodge, who competed in the last series of BBC show The Traitors, have also signed the letter.

Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: ‘This letter and its more than 3,000 signatories demonstrate the unequivocal principled and practical opposition to the restriction of jury trials from not only the Bar, but the legal profession as a whole… It’s not too late for the government to listen to us as experts and as a profession and stop before bulldozing our jury system. We are ready to support a turn to the efficiencies that will increase productivity and will actually make a difference to the backlog and delays.’

The Courts and Tribunals Bill will be debated for the first time in parliament today. Solicitors will be marching to parliament this morning to lobby MPs ahead of the bill's second reading.