Leicestershire's crime commissioner slams plans to restrict jury trials
Leicestershire’s crime commissioner has described the government’s plans to abolish trial by jury in all but the most serious cases as ‘an act of vandalism’.
Rupert Matthews fired off a strong letter of objection to Justice Secretary David Lammy after the proposals were publicised last week and he called for all defendants to retain the right of a jury trial whatever charges they are facing in court.
Mr Lammy, who is also Deputy Prime Minister in the Labour administration, said the idea was being considered to help clear a huge backlog in court cases across the country.
Recent statistics from the Ministry of Justice show there were 78,000 court cases still in the system and that some defendants facing serious charges may not get a trial until early 2030.
If approved, the proposals would see juries only being available for those accused of rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases which are considered to be in the public interest.
Mr Matthews, the Reform UK Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, stated in his letter to Mr Lammy: “This is not just some administrative reform to cut the unacceptable delays in
our courts.
"This is an act of vandalism against the moral architecture of our democracy.”
Mr Matthews points out that only recently Mr Lammy commented that jury trials were a fundamental part of our democratic settlement and that criminal trials without juries are a bad idea.
And he states in his letter that a judge ‘cannot replace the democratic legitimacy that a jury brings to a verdict’ and that discussions among ‘twelve citizens allows disagreement, nuance and the occasional unpredictable outcome’.
The PCC’s letter continues: “It is an unbearably bitter irony that international courts fight to defend the rights of foreign offenders to avoid deportation, yet here at home the government shrugs indifferently at the abolition of trial by jury for British citizens.
"The contrast would be laughable if it were not so dark.”
Mr Lammy says that the change, if approved, would also ensure swifter justics for victims of crime who suffer from awaiting cases to be brought before the courts.