Pressure on justice secretary David Lammy to drop his proposed curbs on jury trials will ramp up this week as solicitors mobilise to lobby MPs ahead of the Courts and Tribunals Bill being debated in parliament for the first time. 

Criminal law practitioners will march to parliament tomorrow morning to lobby MPs before the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons, before moving to a permitted location to protest. The action is being led by the London Criminal Courts' Solicitors Association.

The Law Society today declared that it opposes any restriction on jury trials. Chancery Lane’s parliamentary briefing paper states that the government’s modelling is insufficient in proving that judge-only trials will significantly cut the backlog. If Lammy remains defiant, he should pilot Sir Brian Leveson’s recommendation - cases heard by a judge and two magistrates.

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The briefing paper warns of potential legal challenges if the curbs are applied retrospectively and the risk of more unrepresented defendants in the magistrates’ courts, which has stricter legal aid thresholds.

Lammy faces a battle to get his legislation through parliament without major alterations. Even before he presented his bill, MPs expressed outrage and concern over the prospect of jury trials being curbed. On Friday, TV host Rob Rinder revealed that he has written to all MPs urging them to oppose the restrictions.