Anonymous24 days ago
The UK Labour government's Courts and Tribunals Bill, which would strip jury trial rights for offences carrying sentences under three years, has triggered the resignation of a Labour barrister, a march on Parliament by thousands of lawyers, and the largest backbench rebellion of Keir Starmer's premiership. The government insists the reforms are necessary to tackle a record Crown Court backlog approaching 80,000 cases, but critics — including the man who commissioned the bill, David Lammy — once praised juries as the only part of the justice system free from racial bias.