The UK lord chancellor’s plan limits the involvement of juries in criminal cases
UK lord chancellor and deputy prime minister David Lammy has presented a new criminal justice system plan that includes a new “swift courts” judge-only court process, reported the Law Society Gazette.
Under the swift courts process, a judge will sit alone on cases with a possible maximum sentence of three years. The new process is expected to save 20 percent of the time spent on jury trials.
Judge-only trials will be set for technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences, as recommended by Brian Leveson in his recent criminal courts system review. Leveson had also recommended creating a new bench division that would have two magistrates supporting a judge.
Magistrates will be authorized to set maximum prison sentences of 18 months, up from 12 months. The justice ministry indicated that this power could extend to the ability to set two-year prison sentence if necessary.
Jury trials will be convened for serious and almost all indictable-only offences like rape, murder, aggravated burglary, blackmail, people trafficking, grievous bodily harm, and significant drug offences.
Lammy said in a statement published by the Gazette that by granting courts the authority to determine where cases are to be tried, criminals were no longer permitted to “game the system and torment their victims,” in line with Leveson’s suggestion. Lammy added that permitting defendants to elect trial by jury was an unusual practice across common law jurisdictions and described it as “a peculiar way to run a public service.”
“Today I have set out a bold blueprint for a modern justice system that works for – not against – victims – one that is faster, fairer and finally capable of giving brave survivors of crime the justice they deserve,” Lammy said in a statement to parliament at 1240 on Tuesday December 1, a snippet of which was published by the Gazette. “These reforms are bold and it will take time to turn the tide on the rising backlog, but these measures are necessary to tackle the emergency in our courts. We are putting victims before tradition for tradition’s sake and fairness before those who want to game the system.”
Primary legislation must be passed to execute the pitched courts changes. House of Commons justice select committee chair Andy Slaughter requested a review of Lammy’s proposal to determine their ability to cut down backlog fairly without extending prison sentences or boosting conviction rates.
Leveson said that additional sitting days and increased efficiency were no longer adequate to address the issues in the current criminal justice system. He said in a statement published by the Gazette that the second part of his review would outline recommendations on addressing persistent “deep-rooted operational issues” such as through overhauling governance, amending case management in courts, and utilizing smart technology.
Victim and witness support investment
The justice ministry also revealed that was it was pumping £550 million into specialist services to support victims and witnesses practically and emotionally.
“I’ve seen first-hand how the delays we’ve inherited have had real-world impacts on victims who end up feeling paralysed and re-traumatised as their cases drag on. We’ve already invested record amounts but it’s clear that money alone is not enough. This reform is vital to ensuring that victims are able to move forward with their lives,” courts minister Sarah Sackman said in a statement published by the Gazette.
