UK should limit trial by jury to reduce record criminal backlog, report says

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain must radically reform its criminal justice system, including by removing the right to trial by jury for certain offences, to help tackle a record-high backlog of cases, a government-commissioned report recommended on Wednesday.

The report recommends removing the right to choose a jury trial where a defendant faces a maximum of two years in jail and proposes that complicated fraud cases should be tried by a judge alone.

Brian Leveson, formerly the head of criminal justice in England and Wales, also called for greater use of "out of court resolutions" for low-level crime.

The backlog of cases in the Crown Court, where more serious cases are heard by a judge and a jury, is over 75,000 – more than double the number in 2019 – and trials are currently being listed to take place as far away as in 2029.

Defendants, victims and witnesses are often waiting years for justice to be done, with defendants in custody before trial taking up limited prison places, which has recently prompted Britain to release prisoners early.

Leveson further recommended the creation of a new branch of the Crown Court, where less serious offences could be tried by a Crown Court judge and two other judges instead of a jury.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government will "consider all his recommendations and will respond, in full, ahead of legislating" later this year.

Lawyers' professional bodies broadly welcomed the recognition of the problems in the criminal justice system, but expressed concern about some recommendations, particularly relating to trial by jury.

Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, said that limiting jury trials would effectively just move the Crown Court backlog to lower courts and that a permanent solution required sustained investment to address "decades of neglect".

Barbara Mills, chair of barristers' body the Bar Council, said "there is no need to curtail the right to trial by jury", echoing the Law Society's call for greater investment.

(Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Tomasz Janowski)