Keir Starmer has indicated that he will not U-turn on a controversial move to scrap some jury trials, arguing the move is crucial to delivering justice to victims of misogynist violence.
The prime minister, who is on a visit to China, said tackling a backlog that was forcing victims of violence against women and girls to lose faith and leave the justice system was a personal “fundamental argument of principle”, and suggested he would resist intense pressure from legal experts, rival MPs and members of his own ranks to row back on plans to limit jury trials.
Campaigners – including dozens of Labour MPs and peers from across the upper chamber – insist the reforms undermine a fundamental principle of the justice system and will not work. A report from the Institute for Government (IFG) last week said plans to introduce judge-only criminal trials in England and Wales would save less than 2% of time in crown courts.
But Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, said the trial backlog of 80,000 – which is resulting in some victims of crime having their cases listed for 2030 – had to be tackled. “This is a really fundamental argument of principle for me. I’ve been working with victims of crime for a very long time, and they have to wait too long for justice,” he said.
He added: “I have given my word to campaigners on violence against women and girls, and to victims, that I will do everything within my power to make sure they get justice, and they have to wait so long they’re not getting justice, so many of them fall away, pull out because they’re waiting too long. I’m not prepared to allow that to happen for any longer, which is why we’re taking these measures.”
While some sources have suggested the plans – proposed by Brian Leveson – could be watered down after a backlash, David Lammy, the justice secretary, is understood to be pushing ahead with them in their current form.
The plans include proposals for a new criminal court where judges will hear cases on their own, magistrates-only hearings for offences that carry a maximum sentence of two years or less, and judge-only trials for complex fraud cases. Leveson’s review recommended a single judge sitting with two people in a new “bench division” of the crown court, but Lammy scrapped the lay element.
The government said it had done its own impact assessment of the changes but would not publish it until the bill containing the proposals was ready. Starmer stressed that 90% of criminal cases were already heard in the magistrates court without a jury, and of the 10% that went to crown court, 7% pleaded guilty.
“So of all the criminal cases going through the system that I used to prosecute, 3% ended up as jury trials,” he said. “There will be a slightly lesser percent after these changes, but that’s the change that we’re talking about.”
