\n<\/p>\n
The prime minister\u2019s spokesperson is right that \u201conly by using a combination of reform, investment and efficiency, can we hope to turn the tide on the backlog and deliver the faster and fairer justice the victims deserve\u201d in the criminal courts (Labour lawyers \u2018blocked\u2019 from briefing MPs on jury trials overhaul before vote, 9 March). But curtailing the right to jury trial will have a minimal effect on the backlog.<\/p>\n
Jury trials are not the cause of the backlog. Furthermore, the government\u2019s proposals will disproportionately impact Black complainants, witnesses and\u00a0defendants.<\/p>\n
The random selection of jurors\u00a0from local communities ensures that they are far more likely\u00a0to reflect the cultural heritage\u00a0of people appearing in\u00a0court.<\/p>\n
In 2025, there were only five circuit judges who\u00a0identified as Black or Black British. Curtailing jury trial is bound to add\u00a0to what David Lammy described in 2017 as a\u00a0\u201cchronic trust deficit\u201d towards the criminal justice system. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/em><\/strong>email<\/em><\/strong> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/em><\/strong>letters<\/em><\/strong> section.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The prime minister\u2019s spokesperson is right that \u201conly by using a combination of reform, investment and efficiency, can we hope to turn the tide on the backlog and deliver the faster and fairer justice the victims deserve\u201d in the criminal courts (Labour lawyers \u2018blocked\u2019 from briefing MPs on jury trials overhaul before vote, 9 March).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[265,1846,6761,2131,4022],"class_list":{"0":"post-46819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-impact","9":"tag-jury","10":"tag-minorities","11":"tag-trial","12":"tag-trials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Nic Madge<\/strong>
Retired circuit judge, St\u00a0Albans,\u00a0Hertfordshire<\/em><\/p>\n