Fraud suspects will ‘lose their right to a jury trial'
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, is said to be considering proposals for fraud cases to be heard by a specialist judge rather than a jury. This is because fraud cases often relate to complex financial information.
It is designed to significantly speed up fraud trials, which clog up crown courts given the extra time needed for the prosecution and defence teams to prepare and present their evidence in a way that ordinary members of the public can understand.
Fraud cases make up only 1,183 of the 76,957 cases in the crown court backlog or 1.6 per cent but take considerably longer than average trials given their complexity. Under the plans, fraud cases would be heard in a new intermediate court structure in between the magistrates court, which can only hand down sentences of up to 12 months, and the crown court with a jury.
The creation of an intermediate court is expected to be recommended in a review of the crisis in crown courts to be published by Sir Brian Leveson, a former appeal judge and head of criminal justice, next week.
Cases would be tried by a judge and two magistrates rather than a jury. These would be cases that are too serious for magistrates courts but are no longer deemed serious enough for the crown court in front of a jury. They would no longer be 'either way cases' in which the defendant is able to opt for their case to be heard by a jury in the crown court. The proposals are likely to cause concerns over the threat to Britain's centuries-old principle of jury trials.
The establishment of an intermediate court was a key recommendation by The Times Crime and Justice Commission earlier this year. Mahmood is expected to accept this key recommendation in order to significantly reduce the time and cost of a trial, deliver swifter justice to victims and cut the crown courts' record backlog.
However, she will not announce which offences will no longer be tried at a crown court until the autumn.
Government sources said fraud cases and some sexual offences are likely to be moved to the intermediate court. There are 12,532 sexual offences in the crown courts' backlog.
• Criminals will be released early under 'digital prison' plan
A government source said: 'It will be for Sir Brian to recommend on the issue, but there is a strong case for fraud trials without juries. They are often related to complex financial information, and so may be better heard by a specialist judge alone. They would be dealt with more quickly that way, which would help reduce the courts backlog that soared under the last government.'
There are a large number of cases that can be tried either way and ministers are understood to be planning for most of these offences to be heard in the intermediate court.
The Times previously revealed that defendants accused of violent crimes and drug dealing will also be among those to lose their automatic right to a jury. However, the plans to remove fraud and other cases away from jury trials have already faced a backlash from senior legal figures and there are concerns of a fresh battle with barristers, who staged a series of strikes in 2022, which significantly harmed efforts to reduce the courts backlog.
Jonathan Fisher KC, who conducted a Home Office-commissioned independent review of the conduct of serious fraud prosecutions, said: 'I do not think the case for abolishing juries in serious fraud trials has been made out.'
Fisher pointed out that concerns around complex fraud cases related to disclosure 'where the prosecution has been overwhelmed by the handling of colossal volumes of digitally held unused material resulting in unnecessary and protracted court hearings'.
Fisher noted that the recommendations made in his review would 'streamline the process and save considerable court time and resources' without having to move those cases to an intermediate court.Barbara Mills KC, the head of the Bar Council, said that 'changing the fundamental structure of delivering criminal justice' was not 'a principled response' to the backlog in the crown courts.
• Courts without juries 'could bring swifter justice'
Mills, who leads the professional body for more than 18,000 practising barristers in England and Wales, noted that backlogs were not limited to the crown court and that 300,000 cases were queuing in magistrates' courts.
'Anything that is put forward as a solution needs to take a whole system approach especially in terms of the available resources, so it doesn't simply reshuffle the problem,' Mills said.
Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, criticised the government for failing to consult it. She said: 'As at the beginning of July we have no real understanding of precisely what is going to be suggested.'
There are also concerns that crown courts are not making full use of their sitting days, which is holding back efforts to clear the backlog. Earlier this year Mahmood announced funding for a record 110,000 collective sitting days over this financial year.
• Violent crime suspects may lose right to jury to clear court backlog
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Before the government decides to rip up our constitutional settlement, they should start by getting the basics right, including getting courts sitting round the clock.'
The changes will be introduced alongside the overhaul of sentencing laws, which will effectively scrap prison sentences of less than 12 months except in certain circumstances. Mahmood will formally introduce these changes in a Sentencing Bill next week.
The Ministry of Justice said: 'We know that justice delayed is justice denied … That's why we're backing our courts with record funding and have asked Sir Brian Leveson to recommend once-in-a-generation reform to tackle delays and speed up justice for victims.'
You can read the commission's full report below or here
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