The UK government dropped plans to ditch jury trials for crimes carrying sentences under three years because the court system has a massive backlog that could hit 100,000 cases. Justice Secretary David Lammy said victims are stuck waiting years for their day in court, and these swift courts with single judges will supposedly move 20 percent faster than traditional jury setups. The reforms will let magistrates hand down 18-month sentences and allow judge-only trials for gnarly financial fraud cases.
Legal groups are freaking out because they think this tramples on the right to be judged by regular people instead of just one official. The Free Speech Union pointed out that juries acquit defendants way more often than magistrates do, especially in speech-related cases. A report from Sir Brian Leveson backed the government's move by claiming there is no actual constitutional right to jury trials under common law or human rights conventions, but that take is getting pushback from lawyers.
Legal groups are freaking out because they think this tramples on the right to be judged by regular people instead of just one official. The Free Speech Union pointed out that juries acquit defendants way more often than magistrates do, especially in speech-related cases. A report from Sir Brian Leveson backed the government's move by claiming there is no actual constitutional right to jury trials under common law or human rights conventions, but that take is getting pushback from lawyers.
