Government ministers have officially withdrawn plans that would have significantly reduced the number of jury trials in England and Wales, opting instead to retain the traditional court process. The proposal had sought to increase the use of judge-alone trials as a method to accelerate case resolutions and address mounting delays within the legal system.
The initiative, developed under former Justice Secretary David Lammy and the administration of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, encountered intense opposition from legal professionals. Lawyers welcomed the government’s reversal, arguing that the original scheme posed risks to the fairness of proceedings.
Despite the political move to protect centuries-old jury rights, the Victims’ Commissioner raised alarms regarding the decision. Critics contend that abandoning these measures leaves the court system and victims exposed, particularly given the record-breaking backlog of cases that the reforms were designed to tackle.
The U-turn marks a significant shift in how the government approaches judicial efficiency, prioritizing the preservation of jury trials over the faster, solitary judicial reviews that had been proposed to clear the docket.
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