Ministers have dropped plans to end jury trials for cases likely to bring under three years in prison, though complex fraud may still go judge-only. The right call?
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he had heard "the strength of feeling" and would change course on plans introduced under Keir Starmer. The Crown Court backlog stood at 80,829 cases at the end of June, almost double the 2020 level. Lawyers' groups welcomed the U-turn; the Victims' Commissioner questioned whether the remaining plan would be enough.
What happened
In December 2025 then Justice Secretary David Lammy announced that defendants likely to get a sentence of three years or less would no longer have a jury trial in England and Wales, to cut the Crown Court backlog. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in July that his instinct was not to reduce access to jury trial. On 3 October Justice Secretary Alex Norris confirmed the plan was dropped. Some fraud and financial cases may still be heard by a judge alone, and plans to raise magistrates' sentencing powers remain.
Why people disagree
Supporters of the U-turn say trial by jury is a fundamental safeguard, and legal groups argued that limiting it was not needed to clear the backlog and could backfire. Critics say victims and defendants are already waiting years for trials, and that the government has dropped its main fix without a clear replacement.
What's still unclear
How the backlog of nearly 81,000 cases will now be cut, whether giving magistrates more power simply moves the delays to their courts, and how widely judge-only fraud trials will be used.
Sources
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