09.12.2025
Following Justice Secretary David Lammy's significant "Swift Courts" plan that will fundamentally alter access to jury trials for many defendants, Partner Emma Brooks, specialising in white collar crime, serious and complex crime and regulatory investigations, quoted in CityAm report.
David Lammy has announced that jury trials will be scrapped for cases where sentences are likely to be less than three years, which signals a significant departure from centuries of legal tradition. Under the new "Swift Courts" plan, jury trials will be preserved for the most serious offences. However, a substantial number of cases typically tried by juries - those carrying expected sentences under three years - will now be heard by judges alone. The government will also boost magistrates' sentencing powers as part of this package of reforms. Under the proposed reforms - influenced by a recommendation from Lord Leveson’s proposals, defendants could lose the right to opt for a jury where matters might be dealt with by magistrates or a new judge‑only Crown Court. In practice, this would bar jury trials for many fraud and complex financial cases. That shift centralises adjudication at a time when public scrutiny of corporate wrongdoing is at an all-time high. Removing citizens from the justice process for a significant portion of criminal cases risks eroding public confidence in a system already under scrutiny. The collective wisdom and diverse perspectives of jury members often provide important safeguards against potential miscarriages of justice.
Emma Brooks, Partner in the Crime practice, said: “Even during his announcement abolishing a fundamental right to a jury trial for many, Lammy could not quite bring himself to confirm that this would solve the backlog of criminal cases.” “These changes will do irrevocable damage to both the public’s confidence in the system and the UK’s enviable reputation for fair trials,” she noted.
Read the full article here.
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