Justice system would 'lose legitimacy' without juries
Claire Davies KCThe leader of all barristers across south-east England has said the deputy prime minister's plan to reduce jury trials risks "losing some legitimacy of our justice system".
Claire Davies KC, leader of the south-eastern circuit, says the judiciary is "not diverse and representative of the communities they serve" and that can be "intimidating" to victims, witnesses or defendants.
Davies spoke out as MPs prepare to vote on the government's Courts and Tribunals Bill, which would remove the right to trial by jury in thousands of cases on Tuesday.
A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesperson said it would "plough a record amount of investment into our magistrate courts".
Davies said a person walking into a courtroom "wants to know the people listening to you are like you. That means members of the public and that means juries."
She added "As a woman, I would want to look across the courtroom and see another woman among those 12 people, someone who may have been in my position, may have understood matters that have happened to me.
"With a judge alone, your chances of that happening are far, far slimmer."
Davies also pointed to a national shortage of full-time judges, while there was an "endless supply" of members of the public to serve as jurors.
She says courtrooms will go unused while a judge determines and records their verdict, instead of being available for other cases while a jury deliberates.
The national backlog in crown court cases has risen by 137% to more than 78,000 cases since a low in March 2019.
But the backlog in the South East has risen by 188%, with 16,421 cases waiting to be heard in September 2025.
To ease the pressure, since summer 2024 some trials due to be heard in Maidstone and Guildford have been transferred to London courts to ease the backlog.
But the knock-on effect has been a 24% rise in the backlog in London between September 2024 and September 2025, compared to a 9% rise nationally.
The south-eastern circuit stretches from Canterbury and Lewes in the south to Norwich in the north, and from Ipswich to Oxford.
It includes major court centres such as the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) in London, as well as courts in Chelmsford, Maidstone, Lewes, and Cambridge.
Circuit leaders are elected on a two-year term to represent all lawyers working across the courts in their region.
Davies says dilapidated, poorly-maintained court buildings across the region are an "insult" to victims, defendants and legal staff and a major cause of spiralling trial backlogs.
She welcomed the announcement of investment and plans including unlimited sitting days.
Davies also welcomed the reopening of nightingale courts, including in Chichester, but said these moves would speed up hearings of cases without the need to scrap juries for some offences.
Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with a series of proposals to reduce the backlog in the courts, in a process which began back in December 2024.
These proposals included jury-free trials and more out-of-court settlements like cautions.
In July, Sir Brian said "fundamental" reforms were needed to "reduce the risk of total system collapse".
Justice secretary and deputy PM David Lammy earlier said the reforms were "bold" but "necessary" to tackle an unprecedented backlog of crown court cases.
An MoJ spokesperson says over 90% of cases are already heard without a jury.
They say: "With victims facing unacceptably long waits for justice after years of delays in our courts, we make no apologies for pressing ahead with our plans to reform the system based on Sir Brian Leveson's independent review, alongside modernising it for the 21st Century with record investment."
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