𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Crime victims could continue to face agonising delays to trials for another 10 years, a justice minister has admitted. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is planning to axe thousands of jury trials in a bid to reduce the crown court backlog.

But courts minister Sarah Sackman has admitted it could take up to a decade for the number of “outstanding cases” to fall to a “sustainable level”. And Ms Sackman confirmed suspects currently awaiting a trial after being charged could face a judge-only hearing, with the changes set to apply retrospectively. A staggering 78,329 trials are waiting to be heard, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show.

This is projected to rise to 88,700 by September and 108,700 by September 2028.

In a letter published on Wednesday, Ms Sackman told the Justice Select Committee: “The Deputy Prime Minister and I have been clear that we need to present to Parliament a package of measures that can have a significant and reliable sitting day saving.

“Our objective is that the backlog of outstanding cases begins to reduce in this Parliament and then reaches a sustainable level within the next five to 10 years.

“That will require the package of reforms we set out together with increased sitting days and a realistic efficiency plan.”

Under Labour’s new plans, half of jury trials will be axed. Some sexual assault, burglary, drug dealing and robbery cases will be heard by a single judge.

The MoJ will scrap the right of defendants to “elect” a jury trial for so-called either-way offences. Judges will assess a case, and if it is “likely” to result in a three-year prison sentence or less, it will be heard by either a magistrate or the new Crown Court Bench Division.

And they will apply to suspects already charged with crimes.

Ms Sackman added: “Once the criminal court reforms come into force, they will apply to existing cases. A longer implementation period would result in the backlog getting worse.

“Allowing pending cases to be tried by a judge alone will enable us to start tackling the open caseload as soon as the new legislation is enacted, delivering swifter justice for victims without compromising defendants’ rights or fairness.

“It will also avoid two different procedures running in parallel in the crown court as a result of arbitrary cut-off dates.”

And the Criminal Bar Association called on Labour MPs to rebel and block ministers from applying the changes retrospectively.

It said in a statement: “Whether you are a complainant or a defendant who was expecting to have 12 ordinary people decide where the truth lies in your case, according to this plan, you are liable to have the case re-allocated to be tried by a single judge.

“Fortunately, the MoJ do not have the last word on this.

“We trust that MPs and peers will stand up for long-cherished rights and honour the legitimate expectation that these cases will continue to be tried by a jury.”

The Labour minister claimed criminals are gaming the system by pleading not guilty because they know it will take years for the case to come to court. And she dismissed suggestions that boosting the number of court sitting days could ease the backlog.

Ms Sackman said: “What this means is that, without the proposed reforms, the Government would need to fund 139,000 sitting days just to keep up with the expected demand.

“Even if the funding were available, it would be impossible to sit that number of sitting days.

“That is because the number of available sitting days in the crown court depends not just on the level of investment but is constrained by actual capacity – in other words, the numbers of judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, and court staff.

“That capacity cannot be expanded to the levels needed within this Parliament.”