Andy Burnham abandons plans to curb jury trials over ‘strength of feeling’

| Freelance News Reporter Published October 3, 2026 10:29am Updated October 3, 2026 10:30am Andy Burnham has scrapped plans to limit jury trials to serious offences (Picture: Getty Images) Andy Burnham has scrapped plans to reduce the number of jury trials on account of the ‘strength of feeling’ on the issue. Plans to cut the number of Crown Court cases involving juries were unveiled under Sir Keir Starmer’s government in order to tackle backlogs. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that juries will now be retained for most cases, with the exception of some fraud and financial offences which could be heard by a judge alone. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the change would actually allow courts to tackle backlogs quicker by removing the need for a structural overhaul. His predecessor David Lammy had told MPs the proposed changes were ‘desperately needed’ to prevent victims facing ‘agonising delays’. Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. Mr Lammy’s move would have reserved juries for ‘indictable-only’ offences, such as murder and rape, and lesser ‘either-way’ offences which would have likely warranted a sentence of more than three years in prison. However his words were met by opposition from parliamentarians, including some on Labour’s benches who were concerned the proposals would compromise fairness and rights. Some 80,829 cases were still waiting to be dealt with at the end of June, double the figure in 2020. The original decision was taken following recommendations by former senior judge Sir Brian Leveson, who argued defendants did not have a ‘constitutional or common law’ right to be tried by a jury. MPs had backed the measures in March during the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Among vocal opponents was barrister Karl Turner, who lost the Labour whip following his critique of the plans. Responding to the latest development, he said: ‘While we must await the detail of the Government’s plans before judging how effective they will ultimately be in practice, I am pleased that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has honoured the commitment he gave me to drop the proposed Crown Court Bench Division (CCBD), a new tier of criminal court that I believe would have been unworkable, unjust and undemocratic. ‘I have consistently made the case that people facing serious criminal charges deserve the fundamental safeguard of a jury trial, and I am hugely grateful to Andy Burnham for his support during my campaign against David Lammy’s proposals.’ Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales said: ‘Too much time has been wasted to reach this common-sense position while the backlogs in the Crown and magistrates’ courts have remained unacceptably high. ‘Investment in infrastructure and technology is encouraging but this must be new money coming into the criminal justice system. ‘We remain concerned that putting more cases into the magistrates’ court, which also faces record backlogs, without increasing capacity places even greater strain on an already overburdened system and risks serious cases facing summary justice.’ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Dad of teen killed in A66 wrong way crash ‘attacked man at son’s funeral’ Arrow MORE: Andy Burnham writes for Metro: ‘How I’ll put power back in people’s hands’ Arrow MORE: ‘I’m a pensioner and, yes, the triple lock has to go’ News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.