"Under the changes, defendants facing potential prison sentences of three years or less will no longer have the option of hearing their cases adjudicated by a panel of their peers. Instead, they will stand before a single judge, some in newly created "swift courts" designed to process cases about 20 percent faster than the traditional system, Lammy said in an address to the House of Commons."
"The tweak to the jury system - revered by many as a bulwark of blind justice, dismissed by others as a costly option used in only a fraction of cases - is needed to ease the burden on criminal courts that are "on the brink of total collapse" under an 80,000-case backlog, the government said. Lammy, who also serves as deputy prime minister, cast the changes as an emergency intervention"
Britain will limit jury trials by removing the jury option for offenses carrying potential prison sentences of three years or less. Those defendants will instead be tried by a single judge, with some cases handled in newly created "swift courts" designed to process cases about 20 percent faster. The proposal requires Parliamentary approval and is expected to take effect early next year. The change aims to reduce an 80,000-case backlog that could reach 100,000 and to address trials scheduled as far out as 2030, producing delays of over a thousand days. The shift affects offenses from nonviolent house burglary to threats to kill and removes the current choice to elect a Crown Court jury for lower-tier cases.
Read at The Washington Post
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