Judge-only trials will save only 2% of Crown court time – not the 20% estimated by the government to justify curbing jury trials, according to research published by the Institute for Government thinktank today.
When the government announced plans to put only the most serious crimes in front of a jury, the Ministry of Justice said cases heard by a judge alone in the new ‘swift court’ would take 20% less time than a jury trial.
However, today's report from the Institute for Government says the most serious ‘indictable only’ jury trial cases take more than twice as long on average to hear as moderately serious ‘either-way’ cases, and more serious either-way cases will still be heard by a jury. As a result, 80% of demand on the Crown court will be out of scope of the government's reforms.
The report says hearing times do not capture other ‘crucial work’ done by the Crown court, such as work in relation to plea hearings, bail applications and sentencing for guilty pleas.
The quarter of jury trial cases heard by a judge alone would only make a small dent in the backlog, the report adds. ‘If the Ministry of Justice’s estimate that these cases will be heard 20% quicker is correct, that would save less than 2% of total court time. Even if they have underestimated the impact and cases save 30% of court time across all hearings, that would reduce total demand by 2.5%. Given the uncertainty around whether this will be realised and the risks of having judges sitting alone to decide both verdict and sentence, this is a very marginal gain.'
The report's author, Cassia Rowland, said: 'For a bigger and faster impact on the Crown court backlog, the government should instead focus on how to drive up productivity across the criminal courts, investing in the workforce and technology required for the courts to operate more efficiently.'
MPs have repeatedly demanded to see the modelling justifying the government’s reforms but have been told they will have to wait until the legislation is introduced to parliament.
The Crown court backlog is currently hovering around the 80,000 mark. To bring it down, Law Society president Mark Evans urged the government to 'focus on efficiencies and investment across the entire criminal justice system, reducing reoffending rates and the number of cases coming into the courts'.
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