The Justice Committee has welcomed the government’s decision to roll back on jury reforms, but has issued new warnings over the burden being placed on magistrates’ courts, saying planned recruitment of magistrates is “unrealistic”.
Last week Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government confirmed it has mostly scrapped plans to remove juries tabled by Sie Keir Starmer’s government under the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Instead, it plans to ease pressure on Crown Courts by giving magistrates the power to hand out longer sentences.
Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP Catherine Atkinson said: “It is welcome that the government has listened to the concerns and strength of feeling about reforms to jury trials and responded. The measures contained in the Courts and Tribunals Bill will reshape criminal justice in England and Wales.”
She warned, however, that ministers “must demonstrate in more detail how the proposal to expand capacity in the magistrates’ court is deliverable” and have a “clear plan”. She cautioned the Committee has seen “backlogs in the magistrates’ courts already rising even before reforms are implemented.”
Atkinson also said the Committee was “concerned by the lack of clarity in the government’s response on how legal aid thresholds”, suggesting that magistrates’ courts could see a significant increase in the number of unrepresented defendants.
She added: “The government should look again at the factors considered by Magistrates’ Courts in deciding whether cases should be sent to the Crown Court to be heard by a Jury rather than staying in the Magistrates’ Courts. There are some straightforward cases where a sentence is likely to be less than two years’ custody, but where a jury trial in the Crown Court would still be the most appropriate mode of trial. The allocation guidelines do not allow for this.”
The remaining stage of the Courts and Tribunals Bill is due to be debated in the Commons on Tuesday 13th October.
The Committee published a detailed critique of the Bill in June. On judge only trials, the Committee’s report concluded the Government should have put forward a more concrete evidential basis for the time saving benefits of judge only trials alongside the bill.
In its response to the Committee’s report, the government said: “Since the Committee published its report, the Government has considered the evidence it presented, alongside representations from stakeholders and parliamentarians across both Houses. The Government has announced its intention to bring forward an amendment at Commons Report stage to remove the Bench Division provisions from the Courts and Tribunals Bill. This reflects our belief that parliamentary scrutiny should have a meaningful impact on legislation. Where concerns are raised, it is right that government listens and responds.”
The Committee’s report also warned MPs were “not convinced” the magistrates’ court will be able to cope with the potential increase in caseload the reforms could generate adding it required ‘significant additional support’.
MPs described the target of reaching 21,000 magistrates by 2029 as “unrealistic”. In 2025 there were 15,000 magistrates.
The Ministry of Justice said: “We are currently on track to meet the target to reach 21,000 magistrates in place by 2028-29, with 655 magistrate appointments between April and June 2026, compared with 384 during the same period in 2025 and 215 in 2024.”
It added: “Recruitment plans are in place to increase judicial capacity in the Magistrates’ Court, including for salaried District Judges (MC)…We have plans to recruit at least 100 trainee legal advisers each year for the next three years.”
The latest figures show 81,000 criminal cases are now stuck waiting for justice almost a third have been waiting for a year or longer.
Last week Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Norris, said: “This government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court. I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it. But I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course.”
