Open letter to the Prime Minister

The open letter is now closed to signatories. We will be sending the letter to the Prime Minister soon. We will publish the names of signatories on this webpage and include them all when we send the letter. Thank you to all the barristers, solicitors, retired judges and other legal professionals for signing and helping us send a strong message to government that justice needs juries.

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Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KC MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA

cc Rt Hon David Lammy KC MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor

March 2026

Dear Prime Minister,

Justice needs juries

We write in our capacity as legal professionals with extensive experience of working in courts across England and Wales at all levels and in all jurisdictions, to request that you rethink proposals to remove jury trials for cases with anticipated sentences of up to three years’ imprisonment.

We fully support and share the Government’s aim of bringing down the backlog in the criminal courts and reducing delays between alleged offence and completion of the case. We have long warned that the criminal justice system is in crisis. We know the serious impact this has on complainants, witnesses and defendants, as well as all those working in the courts.

Juries have not caused this crisis. In Part 2 of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts (Leveson Review), Sir Brian Leveson states that “the most significant cause is chronic underfunding at every step.” He finds that: “Decades of sustained reductions in funding have left the criminal courts with fewer available courtrooms, a diminished and less experienced workforce and a severely dilapidated court estate.”  

Every day we see and hear of delays in the system caused by court rooms continuing to be unused due to the ongoing cap on sitting days, the late delivery of defendants by the Prisoner Escort and Custody Service (PECS), broken facilities in crumbling court buildings, and shortages of court staff, judges and counsel.

Our opposition to curtailing jury trials is principled and pragmatic. Practically, the proposals are based on little evidence. Research by the Institute for Government details that the proposal for judge-only trials would save less than 2% of court time, if they are 20% faster, which is itself “highly uncertain” (Leveson Review Part 1). We do not support the erosion of a deeply entrenched constitutional principle for negligible gain and with substantial risks.

Further, both the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Courts and Legal Services have stated that the reduction of the jury trial would be pursued irrespective of there being a backlog of cases.

Instead of draining valuable time and resources attempting to force through an unpopular, untested and poorly evidenced change to our jury system – and one that will only have effect, if any, in 2028/2029 – we urge the Government to focus on the changes we know will make a difference now – many of which are set out in detail in Part 2 of the Leveson review.

In particular, we support opening all the courts so they can hear cases, intense court listing – such as has been effective in reducing the backlog at Liverpool Crown Court, Woolwich Crown Court and, during Covid, on the Western Circuit – revising the contract with PECS to ensure that defendants are delivered to the dock on time, and better use of technology.

It is also important to look at delays occurring after the reporting of a crime. Substantial delays are at the pre-court stage: for example, for all rape cases, the median time from offence to completion is 1,056 days (35 months), of which just 365 days (12 months) represents the median court time (from receipt in the Crown Court to completion). (See data.)

We therefore strongly support Sir Brian’s call to future-proof the system with “sustained and strategic investment in services, people, infrastructure and technology.”

Criminal law professionals continue to stretch themselves to ensure that the voices of complainants, victims and defendants are heard in court. We ask that the Government now listens to our voices, as solicitors, barristers and recently retired judges who have evidenced measures that reduce the backlog of cases without requiring curtailing jury trials.

Justice should be viewed as a vital public service that deserves investment, just like education and health.

Signed:

1.    Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales
2.    Heidi Stonecliffe KC, Vice Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales
3.    Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Chair of the Criminal Bar Association
4.    Andrew Thomas KC, Vice Chair of the Criminal Bar Association
5.    Claire Davies KC, Leader of the South Eastern Circuit
6.    Caroline Goodwin KC, Leader of the North Eastern Circuit
7.    Samantha Hillas KC, Leader of the Northern Circuit
8.    Sarah Jones KC, Leader of the Western Circuit
9.    Christopher Rees KC, Leader of the Wales and Chester Circuit
10.    Harpreet Sandhu KC, Leader of the Midland Circuit