Jury trials for all except the most serious crimes such as rape, murder and manslaughter are set to be scrapped under radical proposals drawn up by David Lammy.
In proposals that drew a swift backlash from senior lawyers, who said that they would not reduce court backlogs and could “destroy justice as we know it”, the justice secretary has proposed that juries will only pass judgment on public interest offences with possible prison sentences of more than five years.
Lone judges would preside over trials of other serious offences meriting sentences of up to five years, he suggested, removing the ancient right of thousands of defendants to be heard before a jury.
The Ministry of Justice said no final decision had been taken by the government, but sources confirmed the proposals had been circulated throughout Whitehall in preparation for an announcement in the new year.
Lammy’s proposals, which would create a new tier of court in which most criminal offences would be tried by judges alone, go well beyond the recommendations of Sir Brian Leveson, who was commissioned to review the criminal courts and reported in July. And they exceed the courts minister Sarah Sackman’s interview with the Guardian last week, where she set out a plan to stop criminals “gaming the system”.
The MoJ document, circulated in Whitehall earlier this month, reports that crown courts are facing record backlogs, with more than 78,000 cases waiting to be completed.
Leveson recommended the government should end jury trial for many serious offences that could be dealt with by a judge alone or sitting with two magistrates. The former judge suggested they would preside over a new intermediate tier of criminal court, which has been called the crown court bench division (CCBD).
The deputy prime minister’s decision, according to the leaked MoJ document, is to “go further than Sir Brian’s to achieve maximum impact”.
The document, first disclosed by the BBC, 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 for rape, murder, manslaughter and public interest”.
The CCBD would be introduced “as a lower tier of the crown court which hears cases likely to receive a sentence of up to five years by a judge alone”, the document said.
This means that, while jury trials would be guaranteed for murder, manslaughter and rape, almost all other defendants facing serious offences would be tried by a judge alone.
The document was distributed among ministers as part of the write round, when ministers obtain final signoff from other government departments before going public with a policy.
The Law Society of England and Wales’s president, Mark Evans, who represents thousands of solicitors, said the proposals were an “extreme measure” that go “far beyond” Leveson’s recommendations.
“This is a fundamental change to how our criminal justice system operates and it goes too far. Our society’s concept of justice rests heavily on lay participation in determining a person’s guilt or innocence.
“We have not seen any real evidence that expanding the types of cases heard by a single judge will work to reduce the backlogs,” he said.
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Riel Karmy-Jones KC, the 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.
“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.”
The proposals represent a U turn on Lammy’s past views. In a social media comment posted five years ago, he said: “Trials are a fundamental part of our democratic settlement. Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea.”
An MoJ 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.”
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, also criticised the plans. She said: “It is a short-term decision that risks fairness, undermines public trust, and erodes the very foundation of our justice system.”
The Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, Jess Brown-Fuller, described the reports as “completely disgraceful” and accused ministers of dismantling the justice system and failing victims.
