Just days after the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution warned of increasing distrust in the legal system that placed the rule of law under threat, Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy is set to propose the scrapping of jury trials for most crimes.
Under the proposals, juries will only decide murder, rape, manslaughter and other serious offences that carry possible prison sentences of five years or more. For all other trials, a single judge will decide the outcome.
Magistrates are also set to be given a wider remit, hearing offences that carry a maximum sentence of two years, instead of the current one-year limit.
Although the Lords’ report attributed court delays to the ‘pervasive sense the rule of law is under threat’, The Law Society of England and Wales claims there is no real evidence that expanding the number of cases that can be heard by a single judge will reduce the backlogs.
“This extreme measure on jury trials goes far beyond the recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in his independent report,” said Law Society president Mark Evans.
“This is a fundamental change to how our criminal justice system operates and it goes too far. Our society’s concept of justice rests heavily on lay participation in determining a person’s guilt or innocence. Allowing a single person to take away someone’s liberty for a lengthy period or decide a potentially life changing complaint would be a dramatic departure from our shared values.”
In August, a Law Society survey revealed almost three quarters of solicitors (73%) were concerned about jury trials being removed as part of proposals to reform the criminal court system.
“We share the concerns of criminal law solicitors about the erosion of the right to a jury trial”, Evans said.
“The Leveson proposals were an uncomfortable compromise, only justifiable given the extensive challenges our justice system faces. To go beyond Leveson’s proposals is a step too far. With a sensible combination of funding and structural change, the government can solve the criminal courts backlog without resorting to extremes.”
Image credit: David Lammy ©House of Commons
