I. Stephanie Boyce FKC, FRSA: ” This is a dark day for democracy and for legal rights. Jury trials is a democratic safeguard.”

Public Warning!

The government has set out its plans to drastically reduce the use of jury trials in England and Wales. Jury trials will be scrapped for crimes carrying a likely sentence of less than three years.

This is a dark day for democracy and for legal rights. Jury trials is a democratic safeguard. It is the public’s direct participation in justice. It is the constitutional inheritance of Magna Carta.

The backlog exists because successive governments have underfunded the justice system for years, closing courts, cutting staff, and failing to invest in modernisation. Jury trials are not the problem. The problem is neglect.

I am pleased that the government recognises there is an emergency in our justice system, I am pleased the public now realises there is an emergency in our justice system, but this emergency did not happen overnight and it certainly won’t be fixed by the scrapping of jury trials and further eroding legal rights and limiting ordinary citizens involvement. It will be fixed when the public demand meaningful investment, transparent accountability, and a justice system worthy of a modern democracy.
#RuleOfLaw #Justice #Democracy #JuryTrials #LegalRights

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