Labour MPs Oppose Government's Plan to Limit Jury Trials
About 39 Labour MPs have signed a letter to party leader Keir Starmer opposing the government's plan to limit jury trials. The letter, organized by Hull East MP Karl Turner who plans to vote against Labour over the issue, argues that restricting jury trials only to offences carrying three-year terms or more would be unworkable and likely create additional problems. Instead, it proposes alternative measures to reduce the court backlog.
The government, through Justice Secretary David Lammy, announced on 3 December a reform plan to scrap jury trials for crimes likely to carry sentences under three years. These cases would be moved to magistrates' courts or heard by a judge alone in the Crown Court. This move aims to tackle a record backlog in the Crown Court, which currently stands at around 79,619 cases and is projected to increase to up to 100,000 by 2028, with some prosecutions potentially delayed until 2030.
The proposed reforms also include expanding the work of volunteer community magistrates and creating new roles to help manage the caseload more efficiently.
