UK to Allocate Jury Trials to Cases Likely to Exceed Three-Year Sentence Under Leveson Review Reforms
Proposals would send cases likely to draw three years or less to a single crown court judge and up to two years to magistrates. Critics say the change would favor repeat offenders over first-time defendants for jury trials.
The IndependentThe government plans to allocate criminal cases according to the likely length of sentence, sending those expected to draw three years or less to a single crown court judge and those up to two years to magistrates. The change follows recommendations from a review by retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson that was published last year.
Under the Sentencing Code, previous convictions count as an aggravating factor and usually produce longer terms.
The Justice Committee said this means defendants with prior records would be more likely to receive a jury trial than first-time defendants charged with the same offence. The Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association told the committee the differential impact would amount to a penalty for being of good character.
Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of the campaign group Justice, said reserving jury trials for the most serious offences confirms that the government sees juries as the gold standard, yet leaves victims and defendants with clean records less likely to receive that protection.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the right to a jury trial is one of the foundations of the constitution and that under the reforms a repeat offender would be more likely to obtain one than a first-time offender facing the same charge. Geoffrey Robertson KC said the proposed reforms would take an axe to a piece of English heritage.
The Justice Committee also warned that the process could disproportionately affect children, who normally receive sentences between half and two-thirds of an adult term under sentencing guidelines.
It added that magistrates’ courts may struggle with the added caseload, that the target of 21,000 magistrates by 2029 is unrealistic, and that there is a chronic shortage of suitably qualified legal advisers. The Courts and Tribunals Bill cleared its first Commons hurdle despite dissent from Labour backbenchers.
Charlotte Nichols, the MP for Warrington North, spoke publicly for the first time about being raped and said experiences like hers feel weaponised for rhetorical misdirection.
Kingston upon Hull MP Karl Turner, a qualified barrister and critic of the proposals, lost the Labour whip.
