The plans, drawn up under former justice secretary David Lammy, aimed to tackle a record backlog of almost 81,000 cases in crown courts — a figure projected to reach 100,000 without intervention. However, the proposals sparked a fierce backlash from the legal profession.
In a U-turn announced this week, the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, confirmed the government would abandon the move to increase judge-alone trials. Norris said: “I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the crown court and have made the decision to change course.”
Norris argued that scrapping the plans would allow the government to begin work sooner on reducing delays, rather than spending time establishing a new judge-only court division. “Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment,” he said.
The victims’ commissioner expressed concern about the abandonment of measures that were designed to address the backlog, warning that victims and defendants already face years of waiting for justice. Lawyers, however, welcomed the decision, having argued that jury trials are a fundamental safeguard of the criminal justice system.