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

  • 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. In his review of the criminal courts system, Sir Brian Leveson recommended establishing a new 'bench division', in which a judge would be flanked by two magistrates. 
  • Handing courts the power to decide where cases are heard 'no longer allowing criminals to game the system and torment their victims'. This follows Leveson’s recommendation. Lammy said the practice of allowing defendants to elect trial by jury was not found widely in other common law jurisdictions ‘and let’s be honest it’s a peculiar way to run a public service’. 
  • Guaranteed jury trials for the most serious and almost all indictable-only 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. This was also recommended by Leveson. 
  • Increasing magistrates' power to imprison to 18 months, up from 12 months currently. 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.'

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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.'

The proposed courts reforms are closely aligned with Sir Brian Leveson's report on the system, which Lammy described as a 'bold blueprint for change'.

Leveson said today that, in his five decades working in the criminal justice system, he had never seen pressure on the courts ‘at such an unacceptable level’. The evidence is clear, he added, that more sitting days and greater efficiency are not enough to rescue the current system.

Part two of his review ‘will set out how the system can confront the deep-rooted operational issues that have been allowed to persist’, including overhauling governance, reform case management in the courts and ‘harness smarter technology… to drive meaningful change’.