The government is due to introduce a new court reform bill which is set to include removing the right to jury trial for cases that carry a likely sentence of less than three years. The reforms are set to apply retrospectively to cases that are in the system.
This week, the government has also accepted some of the proposals put forward in Part 2 of Sir Brian Leveson’s review of criminal courts, including ‘Blitz Courts’, an intense approach to court scheduling which enable judges to deal with cases more swiftly.
The government has also announced that it will allow courts to run at maximum capacity next year which the Bar Council has also welcomed as it has long called for the limit on the number of days that courts can sit to be removed.
Bar Council Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: “Juries have not caused this crisis, and we have seen no evidence which validates curtailing them. That is why we fundamentally disagree with the restriction of jury trials. The objection is principled and pragmatic and the mantra of modernisation in relation to juries is a Trojan horse to hack at a deep-rooted constitutional principle.
“Indeed, we support modernisation of the criminal justice system - such as working in buildings that function and with technology that operates. We suggested moving the threshold of cases tried in the magistrates’ courts and we provided a list of offences which should not be in the Crown Court to Sir Brian Leveson's Review. We also recommended the tried and tested ‘Blitz Courts’ proposal which we are pleased to see the government is taking forward from part 2 of the Leveson Review.
“Practically, there is little evidence to support the government’s decision to rush through legislation which unnecessarily tampers with the right to be judged by one’s peers. The application of this proposal retrospectively inevitably will face a constitutional challenge. The Criminal Bar Association estimates that up to 30,000 cases will be affected. Not only is this extraordinarily unfair to those who have already elected the Crown Court, understanding that it is a jury trial, it interferes with legal certainty and runs the risk of tying the courts up in appeals, further increasing the backlogs.
“We give a voice to victims, complainants and defendants. We work on the frontline of the criminal justice system and are well aware of the detrimental impact delays are having so we will continue to champion reforms we know will work.
“We urge the government to give efficiency measures time to work rather than drain time and resource on a proposal that carries substantial risk for negligible gain.”