UK scraps jury trial restrictions, leaving 80,000 case backlog
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has abandoned his predecessor’s plan to restrict jury trials to clear a massive court backlog, a major political pivot that leaves the UK justice system facing severe delays and potential systemic strain.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signaled he will scrap proposals to curtail jury trials in England and Wales. The move abandons one of the most significant judicial overhauls inherited from Keir Starmer’s government.
Former justice secretary David Lammy announced in December that defendants facing sentences of three years or less would lose the right to a jury trial. The policy aimed to clear a backlog of nearly 80,000 cases by halving the 15,000 jury trials held annually.
Under the abandoned courts and tribunals bill, magistrates’ sentencing powers would have increased from one year to at least 18 months. A new judge-only court would have been established to process cases faster, a measure Sir Brian Leveson warned was essential to avoid total system collapse.
Speaking in Sheffield, Burnham cited his personal experience with the Hillsborough disaster as the primary reason for his reluctance. He described the tragedy as the greatest miscarriage of justice of our times and stated his instinct is to keep juries at the heart of the justice system.
The decision marks a stark repudiation of Starmer’s policies and shifts the internal dynamics of the ruling party. Burnham has asked chief whip Anneliese Midgley to discuss readmitting Karl Turner, a Labour MP previously suspended for criticizing the jury trial restrictions.
The original proposal faced intense opposition from the legal sector and Labour lawmakers. A letter organized by the Bar Council condemning the plans gathered 3,200 signatures, including 300 senior barristers who warned the reforms would cause more problems than they solved.
For businesses and investors operating in the UK, an efficient judiciary is critical for contract enforcement and commercial dispute resolution. Leaving the 80,000-case backlog unresolved threatens to prolong legal uncertainty and increase the operational costs associated with delayed justice.
Geoffrey Robertson, founder of Doughty Street Chambers, condemned the initial proposals as a cure worse than the disease. While the government previously argued that merely tinkering at the edges was insufficient, the reversal now forces ministers to find alternative solutions to a crisis that Leveson warned could take over five years to fix.
