Jury trials to be scrapped for crimes with sentences of 3 years or less
- Justice Secretary David Lammy announced plans to abolish jury trials for certain criminal cases, introducing new 'swift courts' instead.
- The reform targets 'either way' cases with a likely sentence of three years or less, where a judge alone would decide verdicts.
- Lammy justified the change by stating it would deliver justice 20% faster and is necessary to manage a projected caseload of 100,000 by 2028.
- The new approach aims to enhance transparency, as judges will provide public reasoning for their verdicts.
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the proposal, arguing that reducing the right to trial by jury is unnecessary and harmful, calling it an 'ancient right'.