Time for u-turn on jury plans

Lawyers cannot take sole credit for the change of heart in Whitehall, but the development shows they can lobby effectively.

It is perhaps too early for criminal law specialists and civil rights campaigners to begin celebrating, but the signs are that the government will drop controversial plans to limit the right to jury trials.Reports in the broadsheet national press this week firmly suggested that the Home Secretary is keen to jettison the proposal, inherited from Jack Straw.

While the legal professions cannot take sole credit for the prospective change of heart in Whitehall, the development does show that lawyers can lobby effectively.

With no official conformation, there are still confusing messages regarding David Blunkett's position.

But it is to be hoped that he accepts the view - argued by the Law Society and the Bar Council since the publication of two mode of trial bills and the Auld review of the criminal justice system - that the plans are ill-considered.It is debatable whether they would result in the efficiencies and cost-savings that the government maintains would follow.

More importantly, the restrictions would remove a basic plank of the civil rights edifice in this country.The Home Secretary - who has a reputation as a canny politician - should not be afraid to say the proposals are wrong, recognising that there are other ways to make the system more efficient.

He would gain much respect from lawyers if he did.