Lammy set to announce radical shake-up of criminal courts

David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, is expected to announce plans to eliminate jury trials for thousands of cases, including assaults and drug offences, to address a backlog of nearly 80,000 cases. Lammy is justifying the change by focussing on victims and their delayed justice, but he’s receiving intense pushback from the profession. Critics have said that Lammy’s plans represent a breach of the Magna Carta of 1215, which states that no free man will be arrested “except by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land”. Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general, and Alex Chalk, a former solicitor general and justice secretary, are among those calling the proposals a bad idea, while Sir Robert Buckland, a former solicitor general and former justice secretary, said the proposals “beggar belief.” Writing in the Telegraph, Lammy says today’s justice system must deliver for those it serves, adding: “A strong justice system is not one that clings to tradition for its own sake.” Elsewhere, Lord Garnier, a former solicitor general, said the plans would not get through the Lords and senior barrister Riel Karmy-Jones KC warned that judges could face increased intimidation if jury trials are limited to serious offences like murder and terrorism. “It’s easier to intimidate one person than it is to intimidate 12,” he says.