Andy Burnham scraps Starmer-era plan to curb jury trials - but won't set target for courts backlog to fall

Controversial plans to curb jury trials will be scrapped - as the government refuses to commit to targets on when the courts backlog will start to fall.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced a U-turn on proposals introduced under Sir Keir Starmer's government last year, which then-justice secretary David Lammy said was intended to tackle the growing number of cases waiting to be heard.

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Under the proposed reforms, defendants who would likely get a sentence of three years or less would no longer get a jury trial, and would no longer be able to choose one.

Thousands of lawyers raised concerns about the move, which also drew criticism across the political spectrum.

Ministers said that only some fraud and financial offences will now be allowed to be heard before a judge alone, without a jury.

Another change announced will now see alleged criminals accused of "relatively minor crimes" losing the right to choose a Crown Court jury trial rather than a magistrates' one, with courts having the final say on where "either-way" offences are sent.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he decided to "change course" after hearing the "strength of feeling on the proposals".

According to the most recent MoJ figures, there were 80,829 cases still to be dealt with at the end of June, with the backlog almost doubling since 2020.

Courts minister Sarah Sackman said at the time that the backlog could take "nearly 300 years" to clear to pre-COVID levels without reforms.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Helen Lewis, Mr Norris admitted "cases will continue to rise until we have the legislation", but said there will be "significant falls over the next decade".

However, asked if he will set a target date for when his reforms will start to see the backlog begin to fall, the lord chancellor said: "I wouldn't go as far as that."

He added: "The public are tired of hearing bombastic promises that then aren't kept.

"I'm doing something better than that which is I will be publishing our impact assessment as to what it [the reforms in the Courts and Tribunals Bill] will do on court delays.

"It will show the trajectory, because, of course, this will take time to go through parliament. It will take time to implement."

Mr Lammy's plan aimed to reserve jury trials for "indictable-only" offences such as murder and rape, and lesser "either-way" offences with a likely sentence of more than three years in prison - as proposed by an independent review of the criminal courts.

Other cases would instead have been heard by a single crown court judge. It was supported by MPs at the first Commons hurdle earlier this year, but others like MP Karl Turner - who had the Labour whip suspended after he criticised the plan - still had concerns.

The changes to the plans will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, due back in parliament later this month.

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Mr Turner, MP for East Hull, said: "I strongly welcome the fact that the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, has rightly binned the unworkable plans to curtail jury trials pursued under the previous Labour prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer."

He added: "The government should be in no doubt that if its eventual proposals are unworkable, fail to protect the right to a fair trial or undermine access to justice, they will not secure the support they need in the House of Lords."

Andrew Thomas KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed the news: "Justice needs juries. Nothing inspires more public trust than 12 ordinary citizens from all walks of life deciding the facts of a case together."

Mr Thomas also said: "The Magistrates' Courts simply cannot cope... They do not have enough Magistrates, enough qualified legal advisers or enough resources to take on thousands of more sensitive cases."

(c) Sky News 2026: Andy Burnham scraps Starmer-era plan to curb jury trials - but won't set target for courts backlog to fall