The government says judge-alone trials will take 20% less time than jury trials. Currently, cases can take an average of 332 days<\/a> from charge to completion. <\/p>\n The criminal courts are undoubtedly under extraordinary pressure, compounded by cuts to public funding<\/a> and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is currently a record backlog of over 78,000 crown court cases<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet the right to be tried by one\u2019s peers has deep roots in the legal tradition of England and Wales. Its origins trace back to Magna Carta in 1215, which promised that no one would lose their liberty or property without \u201cthe lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land\u201d. <\/p>\n The judge and legal philosopher Lord Devlin described trial by jury as \u201cthe lamp that shows that freedom lives\u201d<\/a>. It is a symbolic cornerstone of justice in England and Wales.<\/p>\n These proposals go far beyond the recommendations put forward in Brian Leveson\u2019s independent review of the criminal courts<\/a>, published in July 2025. Leveson proposed trial by judge alone where the defendant requested it, or in particularly lengthy and complex trials. But Lammy\u2019s proposals appear to be a watering down of leaked MoJ plans to restrict the use of jury trials to only \u201cpublic interest\u201d cases with sentences of over five years.<\/p>\n In practical terms, jury trials already form only a small part of the system, accounting for around 2% of all criminal cases<\/a>. Ministry of Justice data<\/a> shows that most criminal cases are resolved in the magistrates\u2019 courts, in which three magistrates (who are volunteer lay people rather than professional judges), determine guilt as well as sentence. <\/p>\n Although magistrates deal with less serious offending, they currently have the power to imprison offenders for up to 12 months for a single offence, a power which, Lammy announced<\/a>, would be increased to 18 months. Of those cases which are dealt with by the crown court, around 60% of defendants plead guilty, removing the need for a trial. <\/p>\n The vast majority of criminal cases never reach a jury trial. Some might therefore regard juries as symbolically important, but an unnecessary burden on a struggling court system. While there are valid concerns<\/a> about aspects of jury decision making, research<\/a> has found that juries do generally make fair decisions. <\/p>\n There is limited research<\/a> on judge-only trials, in part because they are relatively rare. Even in jurisdictions where juries are not used, judges more often sit in panels of three or more. There are concerns that judge-only trials risk exacerbating judicial bias.<\/p>\n Perhaps just as importantly, juries provide a form of lay participation that helps ensure public confidence in the fairness of verdicts. <\/p>\n Juries can act as a democratic check on official power. There have been cases, for example in protest-related trials<\/a>, where juries have interpreted the law in ways that reflect broader community standards. Such instances are a reminder that the legitimacy of criminal justice depends on public consent. <\/p>\n The court backlog<\/p>\n The evidence suggests that jury trials are not the primary cause of the current backlog. Crown court backlogs began rising sharply in 2017, driven by years of budget reductions, court closures, maintenance backlogs and limits on the number of days courts were permitted to sit. However, the backlog has not fallen below 35,000 since 2000<\/a>.<\/p>\n The pandemic brought unprecedented disruption<\/a> into an already fragile system as many hearings were postponed and the transition to remote hearings caused delays. By late 2023, there were around 68,000 outstanding crown court cases, already the highest on record, and experts consistently identified lack of capacity<\/a> as the central issue.<\/p>\n Given that jury trials make up such a small proportion of criminal cases, reducing them cannot, on basic numerical grounds, meaningfully reduce a backlog of this scale. The government has stated that restricting jury trials would save \u00a331 million<\/a>, just 0.2% of the MoJ budget. <\/p>\n It could, however, create new problems, including increased appeals, challenges on grounds of judicial bias and reduced public confidence in the outcome of trials. <\/p>\n The Institute for Government<\/a> has warned that such changes could increase the risk of wrongful convictions and further erode trust in the justice system.<\/p>\n There is no doubt that long waits can be profoundly distressing<\/a> for victims as well as defendants and witnesses. But victims\u2019 interests also include trust in the process and confidence that decisions about guilt reflect a broad social judgement, not just the view of a single official.<\/p>\n![\"Front](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/file-20251202-56-ycrxdb.jpg\")
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\n Jane Rix\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n Could England and Wales introduce jury-free trials? Here’s how they work in other countries<\/a>
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