Thank you to those constituents who have contacted me about jury trials.
I recognise the concerns expressed, but the Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases currently waiting to be heard in the Crown Court. Some victims are waiting years for justice, which is completely unacceptable. As we all know – justice delayed is justice denied.
Following the recommendations of the independent criminal courts review, Ministers have set out plans for reform, investment and modernisation. The reforms include: increasing magistrates’ sentencing powers to 18 months to relieve Crown Court pressure; handing courts the power to decide where cases are heard; establishing new ‘swift courts’ for cases with a likely sentence of three years or less, heard by a judge alone; and judge-only trials for particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences, to free up jurors. There will continue to be guaranteed jury trials for the most serious and almost all indictable offences, including rape, murder, aggravated burglary, blackmail, people trafficking, grievous bodily harm, and the most serious drug offences.
I understand these changes will mean around a quarter of cases that would otherwise have to wait to be heard by a jury will be fast-tracked to go before a judge, freeing up jury trials for where they are most needed.
Jury trials will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following these reforms, but it is important to remember that the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conducted fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates, and only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury. Over half of these would still proceed to the Crown Court and get a jury trial. The remainder would stay in the magistrates’ courts or would be allocated to the new ‘swift courts’.
Everyone should be guaranteed a fair trial, and timely justice is central to fairness. But the status quo is not working for victims, defendants, or anyone involved in the justice system. These reforms will, however, take time to turn the tide on the rising backlog of cases, but these measures are necessary to tackle the emergency in our courts,
Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue.
Best wishes
Rt Hon Hilary Benn
MP for Leeds South
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland