The Justice Secretary has proposed new judge-only courts, reducing the use of juries to specific cases. Only defendants accused of crimes likely to be given sentences of more than five years, such as murder, rape, serious sexual offences, terrorism, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and possession of firearms, would be entitled to have their case heard before a jury.
Barristers across England and Wales have expressed their concern about the changes, with the Bar Council releasing a statement strongly opposing the changes: “We have continuously opposed proposals to curtail jury trials because there is no evidence that their removal would reduce the backlog nor has it been set out how an alternative system would be resourced. Replacing juries with a judge alone is not the answer… … juries enjoy public trust in part because they deliver equitable findings - regardless of ethnicity. We urge the government to reconsider pursuing radical changes under the mistaken belief that radical equals effective.”
As a former Solicitor General, Michael was asked to give his view on the changes by The Telegraph. He agreed with the former Justice Secretary and Secretary of State Alex Chalk KC. Michael said:
I accept that some scaling back may be necessary but the strength of the response to Mr Lammy’s proposals from the Bar Council and others speaks for itself.
