The government has mostly scaled back its plans to scrap juries for some criminal trials, with the Lord Chancellor responding to the “strength of feeling” on the issue.
In December 2025 the then-deputy prime minister and secretary of state for justice David Lammy introduced proposals to allow some criminal cases where a sentence was likely to be less than three years in prison to be presided over by a judge alone to speed the judicial process up amid a growing backlog; plans that at the time the Law Society said would “erode” the fundamental right to be judged by a jury of peers.
Instead, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government will give magistrates the power to hand out longer sentences, Some complex financial cases will be allowed to be heard by a single judge alone, however. for the mostpart jury trials will remain.
Under the changes, courts will have the final say over where cases should be heard, preventing criminals accused of relatively minor crimes to elect for a jury trial at Crown Court.
The proposed changes announced by the Ministry of Justice will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which is due back in Parliament later this month.
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.
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.
“This allows us to start that work far earlier, ensuring that under this Government we do not have victims waiting endlessly for justice. Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment. I remain committed to structural reform which is crucial if we are to bring down the backlog.”
The Lord Chancellor told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the trial backlog would start falling “in this Parliament” and that it would fall significantly over the next decade.
The decision to roll back some of the changes proposed under the previous Labour government have been cautiously welcomed by the Law Society of England and Wales, but the professional body “remains concerned” over plans to let magistrates’ courts shoulder more of the backlog.
Law Society president, Mark Evans, said: “We welcome the government’s decision to step back from some of its proposed changes to jury trials that risked fairness and public trust. Too much time has been wasted to reach this common-sense position while the backlogs in the Crown and magistrates’ courts have remained unacceptably high.
“Investment in infrastructure and technology is encouraging but this must be new money coming into the criminal justice system, a vital public service which has been drained of resources for too long. We have been calling for a whole-system approach that combines sustained investment and long-term planning.
“We remain concerned that putting more cases into the magistrates’ court, which also faces record backlogs, without increasing capacity places even greater strain on an already overburdened system and risks serious cases facing summary justice.
“It is essential to invest in legal aid. The prospect of people facing imprisonment while being denied legal representation remains a serious concern and lack of legal representation adds to delays.”
The government will publish its full response to both parts of Lord Leveson’s review in the coming weeks. The Courts and Tribunals Bill will return to the House of Commons on 13th October.
