NEWS – “without comment”
Reforms to Jury Trial introduced to Parliament
By Rachel Tustin
March 2, 2026
On Wednesday, David Lammy introduced the Courts and Tribunals Bill in Parliament.
The Bill includes the much-discussed proposal to restrict the availability of jury trial by removing the right to elect trial on indictment for either way offences that are likely to receive a custodial sentence of three years or less. The Bill also introduces judge-only trials for complex fraud or related financial offences and replaces the automatic right of appeal to the Crown Court from the magistrates’ court with a permission stage. Assuming the reforms are implemented, the Ministry of Justice predicts it will take a decade for the criminal court’s backlog to fall below pre-Covid levels.
Separately, the Bill reforms evidential rules in sexual offence trials. A complainant’s previous false allegations will only be admissible where there is a “proper evidential basis” for concluding the allegation was false. The Bill also provides guidance on when evidence of a complainant’s sexual behaviour is admissible and raises the threshold for the inclusion of evidence regarding a complainant’s previous compensation claims.
Posted by: Ian (D. Withers)
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