Justice minister Sarah Sackman will be grilled by MPs today on reports that the government is preparing to dilute proposals to restrict jury trials.
The courts minister will appear before the Commons justice select committee, where she will be asked about the evidence base, practicalities and constitutional implications of the government’s criminal court reforms.
The committee will undoubtedly establish early on precisely what the proposals will be. Sir Brian Leveson’s criminal courts review recommended a new tier of court in which certain cases would be heard by a judge flanked by two magistrates. The government’s proposed ‘swift courts’ will have judges sitting alone.
However, the Guardian reported yesterday that the government is considering reverting back to Leveson’s original proposal to avoid a battle in the House of Lords.
Justice secretary David Lammy visited Toronto last week to see how judge-alone trials operate in Ontario. He told the Guardian: ‘It has been happening in Canada for decades. It is very normal. In this jurisdiction, often defendants are preferring to be in front of a single judge rather than a jury.’
Lammy declined on two occasions to rule out a ‘sunset clause’ that would enable the measures to be reversed once the backlog has cleared, the Guardian noted.
The justice committee will also be hearing from the Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association, Magistrates' Association and Institute for Government this afternoon.
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