Victims will probably be put “front and centre” in reforms to be introduced this week, the justice secretary has stated, amid reviews jury trials will probably be scrapped in some circumstances.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) stated the reforms would pace up justice and save victims from “years of torment and delay”.
Practically 80,000 circumstances are at the moment ready to be heard in crown courts, however a bid to restrict the fitting to jury trial is more likely to be divisive.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick stated Mr Lammy ought to “pull his finger out” to chop the backlog relatively than “depriving British citizens of ancient liberties”.
“The right to be tried by our peers has existed for more than 800 years – it is not to be casually discarded when the spreadsheets turn red,” stated Mr Jenrick.
Full particulars are anticipated within the coming days, however in a press release as we speak Mr Lammy stated he had “inherited a courts emergency; a justice system pushed to the brink”.
“We will not allow victims to suffer the way they did under the last government, we must put victims front and centre of the justice system,” he added.
Mr Lammy stated hundreds of lives had been on maintain because of the case backlog, a “rape victim being told their case won’t come before a court until 2029. A mother who has lost a child at the hands of a dangerous driver, waiting to see justice done”.
He stated he needed a system that “finally gives brave survivors the justice they deserve”.
Picture:The justice secretary will reportedly go additional than a evaluation really useful. Pic: PA
.Nevertheless, it’s been reported Mr Lammy will go additional than a evaluation carried out by Sir Brian Leveson.
The retired choose backed the transfer for juries solely in probably the most severe circumstances, but in addition proposed some lesser offences may go to a brand new intermediate courtroom the place a choose could be joined by two lay magistrates.
The Occasions stated Mr Lammy had prompt in an inside memo he would take away the lay ingredient from many severe offences that carry sentences of as much as 5 years.
There are fears such a transfer may enhance miscarriages of justice and racial discrimination.
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4:30Work and pensions secretary speaks to Sky about justice reforms
The MoJ has laid the bottom for the reforms by saying the courtroom backlog may hit 100,000 by 2028 underneath the present system.
It stated simply 3% of circumstances are at the moment determined by a jury, with greater than 90% already handled by magistrates alone.
