Andy Burnham scraps Starmer-era plan to curb jury trials

Controversial plans to curb jury trials will be scrapped, the government has announced.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said that only some fraud and financial offences will now be allowed to be heard before a judge alone, without a jury.

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It's a U-turn on proposals introduced under Sir Keir Starmer's government last year, which then-justice secretary David Lammy said was intended to tackle the backlog of cases waiting to be heard in court.

But thousands of lawyers raised concerns that the move would even help bring down the backlog.

According to the most recent MoJ figures, there were 80,829 cases still to be dealt with at the end of June, with the backlog almost doubling since 2020.

Courts minister Sarah Sackman said at the time that the backlog could take "nearly 300 years" to clear to pre-COVID levels without reforms.

Under the proposed reforms, defendants who would likely get a sentence of three years or less would no longer get a jury trial, and would no longer be able to choose one.

Mr Lammy wanted to reserve jury trials for "indictable-only" offences such as murder and rape, and lesser "either-way" offences with a likely sentence of more than three years in prison - as proposed by an independent review of the criminal courts.

Other cases would instead have been heard by a single crown court judge. It was supported by MPs at the first Commons hurdle earlier this year, but others like MP Karl Turner - who had the Labour whip suspended after he criticised the plan - still had concerns.

In a statement on Sunday, now-Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he decided to "change course" after hearing the "strength of feeling on the proposals".

Another change announced by the MoJ will now see criminals accused of "relatively minor crimes" losing the right to choose a Crown Court jury trial rather than a magistrates' one, with courts having the final say on where "either-way" offences are sent.

Mr Norris insisted that scrapping the proposal would allow the government to reduce the backlog faster, as it would require less structural change.

The changes will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, due back in Parliament later this month.

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Mr Turner, MP for East Hull, told the Press Association: "I strongly welcome the fact that the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, has rightly binned the unworkable plans to curtail jury trials pursued under the previous Labour prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer."

He added: "The government should be in no doubt that if its eventual proposals are unworkable, fail to protect the right to a fair trial or undermine access to justice, they will not secure the support they need in the House of Lords."

Andrew Thomas KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed the news: "Justice needs juries. Nothing inspires more public trust than 12 ordinary citizens from all walks of life deciding the facts of a case together."

Mr Thomas also said: "The Magistrates' Courts simply cannot cope... They do not have enough Magistrates, enough qualified legal advisers or enough resources to take on thousands of more sensitive cases."

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