A “courts emergency” that will surpass 100,000 outstanding cases without radical reforms is leaving victims waiting years for justice, David Lammy has said as he prepares to face MPs over plans to drop thousands of jury trials.
The justice secretary proposed last week to reduce the 78,000 outstanding cases in England and Wales by allowing jury trials only for serious crimes such as murder, rape and manslaughter.
In a further announcement, Lammy promised £550m of investment over three years to support victims and witnesses preparing to appear in court.
Lammy was accused of creating a space for “further miscarriages of justice” by leading barristers and pressure groups. A leaked letter from the justice secretary last Tuesday outlined radical proposals that would mean juries would pass judgment only on public interest offences with possible prison sentences of more than five years.
Preparing to make a statement to the Commons on Tuesday, Lammy said: “Today I am calling time on the courts emergency that has left victims of the most serious crimes waiting years for justice and pushed the justice system to the brink of collapse.
“For many victims, justice delayed is often justice denied. Some give up on the process, while others have no confidence justice will be served if they report a crime, and perpetrators never held to account.
“The system we inherited has led to a crown court backlog due to hit 100,000 outstanding cases by 2028. This simply cannot go on – we must be bold.”
Lammy is expected to announce the government’s response to recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in July to change the courts system and tackle the backlog.
Leveson suggested diverting more offences to magistrates courts or to a new intermediate court called the crown court bench division, where a judge would hear cases with two lay magistrates.
Juries would be reserved to hear the most serious cases and lesser “either way” offences when a judge deems it appropriate.
Lammy’s plans, according to a leaked Ministry of Justice document, is to “go further than Sir Brian’s to achieve maximum impact”. The document said Lammy wanted to “introduce trial by judge alone for cases involving fraud and financial offences – if the judge considers the case to be suitably technical and lengthy. Exclusions would be for rape, murder, manslaughter and public interest.”
Lammy is expected to set out plans to increase control for judges on how to handle cases, and create faster routes for lower-level cases like in Canada, which has judge-only trials.
The proposals have faced opposition from MPs and legal professionals, including from the Criminal Bar Association and the Bar Council, which said “there is no need to curtail the right to a trial by jury – from both a principle and practical position”.
The Law Society of England and Wales said it had not seen any “real evidence” it would work to reduce the backlog. Keir Monteith KC, the criminal barrister who has raised issues of institutional racism to help quash the convictions of young black men, said: “Lammy’s 180 degree U-turn to replace juries with judges is not only unconstitutional and politically naive but it will create further unfairness and miscarriages of justice for black and minority ethnic defendants.”
According to the MoJ, nearly half of the cases in the backlog concern alleged violent and sexual offences, and only about 3% of criminal cases are currently heard with a judge and a jury.
As part of the announcement, £550m will also be given to victim support services over the next three years to help survivors and witnesses through the justice process, such as with counselling and advice on attending court.
The late victims’ commissioner Helen Newlove repeatedly raised concerns about victims’ services and said in October that “support can be the difference between a victim staying engaged or walking away from the justice process”.
An annual survey of victims by the watchdog found less than half of respondents were confident the criminal justice system was effective or that they could get justice by reporting a crime.
Claire Waxman, the incoming victims’ commissioner, welcomed the move to cut the backlog of cases but warned that the funding for victims’ services would not be a “silver bullet”.
She added: “We have watched the unacceptable become the accepted norm as the wait for justice stretched from months to years. It is 2025, yet I am sitting with victims who are staring down trial dates in 2030. Victims might be forgiven for asking if it is they who are being handed a sentence, not the offender.
“While this announcement provides much-needed stability, the sums pledged are not a silver bullet for the wider crisis facing the sector.”
