I have just read the Courts and Tribunals Bill from cover to cover. It is not a happy read. It is the most authoritarian set of proposals put forward by a democratically elected British government that I have ever had the misfortune to read. It is an affront to our democracy. It spits in the face of the concept of justice. And any concept of anyone having a fair trial anymore will be destroyed if this foul and flawed piece of legislation reaches the statute book. We are sleep walking into totalitarianism. First they came for the juries.
The only part of our broken criminal justice system that actually works are juries. They have been a cornerstone of our democracy for centuries. And it is the only part of our system which is trusted by everyone and in particular ethnic minorities. They are selected at random therefore there can be no arguable accusation of racism or bias.
Way back in 2020 a prominent MP nailed his career to the mast by correctly saying what is obvious to any sentient being, “Jury trials are a fundamental part of our democratic settlement . Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea”. Well, that was David Lammy in sentient being mode. So what has changed? Successive governments have under funded the criminal justice system for years. They cut the number of sitting days, which meant that courts were lying idle. The back log of Crown Court cases was about 35,000 at the time which could have been severely cut back if judges were allowed to judge. But no. The government wanted to save money in the short term and sacrifice the future. So the backlog crept up. And then came COVID. But they still failed to significantly uplift the sitting days despite pleas from successive Lord and now Lady chief justices. The back log is now 83,000. There are not enough judges, barristers, solicitors and court rooms to to cope with this. All of us are under the tremendous stress trying to reduce the back log.
This week Lammy did two things. He increased number of sitting days to its maximum, which will gradually reduce the backlog. This is to be welcomed. Then he published a Bill to severely limit jury trials. This is deeply, deeply troubling. McKinsey’s did a study recently that indicated that reducing jury trials would save between one and a half to two percent of court time. His ghastly minister in charge of this deeply flawed policy, is Sarah Sackman KC, who being a human rights lawyer at Matrix chambers has never done a jury trial in her life. A bit like Lammy and of course the former DPP Starmer. He was a disastrous DPP. He cut the CPS budget by a third and couldn’t understand why the service began to fall apart. God save us from human rights lawyers.
So let me give you a flavour of what is proposed. There will be a determination of every crown court trial up until the time of the prosecution opening the case to a jury as to whether a single judge should replace the jury. This will be retrospective. So everyone who elected trial way back because they don’t trust magistrates to give them a fair trial will have to give reasons why, if they are likely to be sentenced to less than 3 years a single judge alone should try it. Representations can be made by the prosecution and defence but this can be be done on paper. There doesn’t even have to be a hearing in court. Oh, and there is no appeal.
And single judges, case hardened professionals, will have to give reasons for the finding of guilt (fair enough) but most worryingly for acquittals. What a gift for the tabloid press. Judges would be hounded by them . There will be lists of “soft” judges. “Paedo defenders” will scream the front page of the Daily Mail. “The murderer’s friend” in the Daily Express. Judges, once again would be the Enemies Of The People.
Let us not forget the Magistrates court. They will be given powers to sentence up to two years imprisonment. They will be swamped. Lammy seems to forget that in the magistrates court there is a backlog of 361,000 cases. And the automatic right of appeal to the Crown Court will also go. But 41% of all appeals succeed. Is it any wonder that people have no confidence in the magistrates courts. Read the Secret Barrister. Magistrates courts are the Wild West.
Worse, this is all being rushed through. There has been no consultation. The legal profession are up in arms. Judge’s are horrified. None of us signed up for this. There has been no modelling. No pilots being rolled out. Even the Ministry of Justice say that curtailing jury trials won’t dent the backlog.
So why are the government committed to such a disastrous policy? This is the question that Labour back benchers have been asking Number 10 on just about every major policy. And Downing Street is briefing that this is Starmer’s legacy moment. It won’t be. That will be the Denton & Gorton by election and his pathological inability to read a room.
Karl Turner, a Hull Labour MP, is a former solicitor turned barrister understands the importance of jury trials and is rallying a call to arms. I will join him on the barricades as I hope will every barrister, solicitor and judge. The government’s plans are an outrage. Human rights lawyers should remember that there is no more precious human right than to give everyone the right to a fair trial. Take this away and there will be civil disobedience the like of which this country has never seen. You have been warned.
Kemi, it’s time to put on your shit kicking boots.