Lammy defends plan to restrict jury trials to ‘save the criminal justice system’

David Lammy has defended plans to restrict jury trials as a rebel Labour MP threatened to trigger a by-election unless the UK Government scraps the proposal.

Karl Tuner, a former shadow attorney general and criminal barrister, said he was prepared to quit the Commons to force a by-election to make his “principled point”.

But Justice Secretary David Lammy said the reforms would help cut the crown court backlog in England and Wales, which has risen to around 80,000 cases.

Mr Lammy, who visited Toronto to see the Canadian system of judge-only trials, said he was willing to listen to concerns from MPs and lawyers who have called for a “sunset clause” to make the restriction on jury trials a temporary measure.

But he told The Guardian: “I do think reform is necessary if we want to save the criminal justice system and make it fit for purpose.”

If the reforms are passed, Mr Lammy said: “I’d like to see the backlog coming down by 2029 and the next general election.”

Asked if he would expect the backlog to be cleared by the mid 2030s, Mr Lammy said: “Yes.”

The Justice Secretary visited Toronto to see the Canadian system, where many cases are heard by a judge without a jury.

He said: “It has been happening in Canada for decades. It is very normal. In this jurisdiction, often defendants are preferring to be in front of a single judge rather than a jury.”

The Government’s plans would scrap jury trials for offences with a likely prison sentence of three years or less.

The ability to appeal a magistrates’ court verdict to a crown court will also be limited.

The proposals have caused unease on the Labour benches, with Mr Turner breaking the whip for the first time since becoming an MP in 2010 to side with the Tories in a protest against the plans.

He told Sir Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, he “ought to be ashamed of himself”.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he warned the whips he would consider triggering a by-election in a seat that could fall to Reform UK.

Mr Turner said: “When I say this matters to me, it really matters to me.”

Mr Turner won his seat with a majority of 3,920 over Reform in 2024.

The Hull East MP also told Times Radio he was “completely ashamed” of Justice Secretary Mr Lammy.

“Lammy is the Justice Secretary who’s fallen for the civil servants’ trick.

“Every single justice secretary for the last two decades has been asked by officials to do away with some jury trials, but David Lammy is the fool who fell for the trick.”

Mr Turner said he hoped he would be supported by enough Labour rebels to vote the proposals down.

“If they’re (the Government) daft enough to put this legislation forward… I’m confident we’ll defeat it,” he said.

“I think there are enough others.”