Burnham Scraps Plans to Limit Jury Trials in England and Wales

The government has dropped a plan to let judges decide criminal cases alone, without a jury, for offenses carrying sentences of less than three years, the BBC reports. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said only complex fraud and financial crime cases will now move to judge-only trials. Thousands of medium-level offenses will instead stay with volunteer magistrates, who already sit without juries.

What was the original plan and who proposed it?

Former Justice Secretary David Lammy first announced the jury-trial changes in December, following a recommendation from a major review of the court system in England and Wales. Under that plan, juries would have been reserved for the most serious "indictable" crimes, such as murder and rape. Lesser Crown Court offenses — anything likely to draw a sentence under three years — would have gone to a judge sitting alone.

Why did officials want to cut back on juries?

The backlog of criminal cases in England and Wales stands at nearly 81,000, according to the BBC. Court closures during pandemic lockdowns and funding cuts before that drove the number up. Official projections cited by the BBC put the backlog on track to hit 100,000 before the next general election, and as high as 160,000 by 2035 in a worst-case scenario. Officials framed judge-only trials as a faster way to clear cases and ease pressure on an overcrowded prison system.

Why did the plan get scrapped?

Norris told the BBC he "heard the strength of feeling" against the proposal and decided to change course. He said the goal now is to start reform work sooner rather than later. "This allows us to start that work far earlier, ensuring that under this government we do not have victims waiting endlessly for justice," Norris said, according to the BBC. "Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment."

Criminal lawyers had pushed back hard on the original plan. Andrew Thomas KC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, told the BBC the profession was "delighted" by the reversal.

"Justice needs juries. Nothing inspires more public trust than 12 [jurors]." — Andrew Thomas KC, Criminal Bar Association

The Conservative Party called the reversal a "major victory" for defenders of jury trial, per the BBC.

What stays the same for defendants?

Most Crown Court defendants keep their right to a jury. The only carve-out under the revised plan covers complex fraud and financial offenses, which move to judge-alone hearings. Magistrates — who already decide less serious cases without a jury — will take on more of the medium-level caseload instead of losing jury-trial rights outright, as the original plan would have done.

What to watch

• Whether the narrower judge-alone rule for fraud cases draws its own legal challenges once drafted into legislation.
• Whether the Crown Court backlog keeps stabilizing after the government's funding push for extra sitting judges, per the BBC.
• Whether magistrates' courts, now absorbing more medium-level cases, see added strain from the shift.

The backlog itself has shown signs of leveling off after the government committed what the BBC describes as unlimited funding to staff courtrooms that had been sitting empty. Norris said he remains committed to structural reform even without the scrapped jury changes, calling such reform "crucial if we are to bring down the backlog."

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