Andy Burnham Scraps Plans to Reduce Jury Trials

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Justice Secretary Alex Norris have scrapped plans to reduce the number of jury trials in England and Wales. The decision reverses a policy introduced under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer that sought to replace jury trials with single-judge hearings for defendants facing sentences of up to three years.

The government originally proposed the shift to address a crown court backlog of approximately 81,000 cases. However, the move faced intense backlash from lawyers, MPs, and legal organizations who argued the policy undermined fundamental rights and lacked evidence of effectiveness. Judge-alone trials will now be limited to a small number of complex fraud cases.

Despite the U-turn, the government will proceed with other reforms to increase efficiency. These include raising magistrates' sentencing powers from 12 to 18 months, with potential extensions to two years, and removing the right of defendants charged with either-way offences to choose between a crown court jury trial and a magistrates' court. The Ministry of Justice claims this revised approach will reduce the backlog faster by avoiding the need for a new crown court bench division.

Reactions to the decision were mixed. Member of Parliament Karl Turner welcomed the reversal of what he called unworkable plans. Conversely, Victims' Commissioner Claire Waxman expressed concern that the change in course fails to sufficiently address the challenges facing the court system.