Only murder, manslaughter and rape cases could be heard in court under new proposals

Only murder, manslaughter and rape cases could be heard in court under new proposals William Hallowell William Hallowell Published November 25, 2025 5:02pm Updated November 25, 2025 5:02pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments People would have ‘no right’ to juries (Picture: Getty Images)

Juries could be scrapped for all but the most serious crimes under new plans being considered by the Justice Secretary.

David Lammy has reportedly written a memo to ministers and senior civil servants to say there was ‘no right’ to jury trials in the UK.

Instead, he suggested that juries will only decide rape, murder, manslaughter and ‘public interest’ cases while ‘lower-tier’ offences would be heard by a judge, according to The Times.

He said action must be taken to cut the backlog of nearly 78,000 crown court cases in England and Wales.

Lammy suggested that ‘lower-tier’ offences would be heard by a judge (Picture: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

The government is yet to respond to recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in a review of how to reform the court system and cut the record-high crown court backlog.

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Sir Brian’s recommended juries would be reserved to hear the most serious cases, while other cases would be diverted to magistrates’ courts or to the proposed Crown Court Bench Division for trials to be heard by judges.

He proposed the creation of ‘intermediate courts’ where judges would sit with two lay magistrates.

Lammy’s memo implies the government was going to remove the lay element for trials for serious offences.

Last week, the courts minister Sarah Sackman promised to limit jury trials by the next election, saying criminals were ‘laughing in the dock’ knowing that it can take years for cases to go to trial.

Sackman told The Guardian: ‘I can’t think of a greater responsibility in government than ensuring that our justice system works. The sense of duty that I feel is enormous.’

Critics said that Lammy’s proposals will ‘destroy justice as we know it’ (Picture: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

She added: ‘For me, the priority is swift justice, fair justice, over prioritising a defendant’s right to choose where that trial is heard.’

The right to trial by jury could be removed for thousands of cases in a radical shake-up of the justice system to clear the backlog.

But critics have said it will ‘destroy justice as we know it’.

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents criminal barristers, said: ‘What they propose simply won’t work – it is not the magic pill that they promise.

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‘The consequences of their actions will be to destroy a criminal justice system that has been the pride of this country for centuries, and to destroy justice as we know it.

‘Juries are not the cause of the backlog. The cause is the systematic underfunding and neglect that has been perpetrated by this government and its predecessors for years.’

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘No final decision has been taken by government.

‘We have been clear there is a crisis in the courts, causing pain and anguish to victims – with 78,000 cases in the backlog and rising – which will require bold action to put right.’

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