JUSTICE SECRETARY David Lammy is proposing to massively restrict the ancient right to a jury trial by only guaranteeing it for defendants facing rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases passing a public interest test.
An internal government briefing, produced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for all other Whitehall departments, has already confirmed the plans to create a new tier of jury-less courts in England and Wales.
The new courts would deal with most crimes currently considered by juries in Crown Court and no doubt will deliver ‘instant justice’ .
The MoJ said yesterday that no final decision had been taken by the government, but the issue was under serious consideration. The plans show that Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, wants to ask Parliament to end jury trials for defendants who could be jailed for up to five years.
The proposals are said to be an attempt to end unprecedented delays and backlogs in courts, and do not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland. It is quite obvious that the real intent is to be able to jail trade unionists in a period where the right to strike is under full blooded attack by a desperate ruling class.
The MoJ presentation, produced earlier this month, says Crown Courts are facing record backlogs with more than 78,000 cases waiting to be completed.
In practice, this means that suspects being charged with serious crimes today may not have a trial until late 2029 or early 2030. Under the new proposed measure they would have no jury trial at all.
The campaign to jail trade unionists and protesters, against government policies, without a trial is now well underway.
Earlier this year, retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson recommended that the government ends jury trials for many serious offences, saying they could be dealt with by a judge alone or sitting with two magistrates.
This would be done by creating a new intermediate tier of criminal court, dubbed the ‘Crown Court Bench Division’ (CCBD), sitting between magistrates courts and Crown Courts, where juries decide cases. The CCBD would hear cases involving defendants facing sentences of up to three years, Leveson recommended.
The ‘DPM’s (deputy prime minister’s) decision’, according to the leaked MoJ document is to ‘go further than Sir Brian’s to achieve maximum impact’.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme on Tuesday, Sir Brian said he was ‘not prepared to comment’ on the government’s ‘hypothetical’ unpublished plans. However, he said: ‘Substantial, structural change is essential’, adding: ‘Our criminal justice system is at crisis point.’
The second part of his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts will be published soon. He added: ‘Reforms will not compromise right to a fair trial.’
The document says Lammy wants to: ‘Introduce trial by judge alone for cases involving fraud and financial offences – if the judge considers the case to be suitably technical and lengthy. Exclusions for rape, murder, manslaughter and public interest.’
The CCBD would be introduced ‘as a lower-tier of the Crown Court which hears cases likely to receive a sentence of up to five years by a judge alone’, the document said.
This means that while jury trial would be guaranteed for murder, manslaughter and rape – almost all other defendants facing serious offences would be tried by a judge alone.
The document continues: ‘The reforms will improve timeliness in the Crown Court through extra hearing time… (and) not compromise the right to a fair trial – there is no right to a jury trial.’
Lammy is said by officials to have begun the ‘write round’ – Whitehall jargon for obtaining final cross-Cabinet and departmental sign-off before going public. Assuming he gets that approval, an announcement would come in December, with legislation in the New Year.
A spokesperson for the MoJ said: ‘No final decision has been taken by government. We have been clear there is a crisis in the courts, causing pain and anguish to victims – with 78,000 cases in the backlog and rising – which will require bold action to put right.’
Riel Karmy-Jones KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association which represents criminal barristers, said the proposals would not solve the crisis in justice.
She said: ‘What they propose simply won’t work – it is not the magic pill that they promise. The consequences of their actions will be to destroy a criminal justice system that has been the pride of this country for centuries, and to destroy justice as we know it.’
Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller MP described the plans as ‘completely disgraceful’. Former judge Wendy Joseph KC said ‘No one should underestimate how serious that is.’
The TUC must call general strike action to smash this plan by replacing Labour with a proper Workers Government!
