{"text":[[{"start":7.25,"text":"Andy Burnham’s government has abandoned plans to scrap jury trials in thousands of criminal cases after an outcry from the legal profession and a threatened rebellion from backbench Labour MPs."}],[{"start":20.2,"text":"Justice secretary Alex Norris said on Sunday that ministers were scaling back what had been billed as the biggest shake-up of the court system in a generation given the “strength of feeling” about proposals set out by his predecessor David Lammy."}],[{"start":34.2,"text":"Ministers will instead press ahead with a more limited package of the reforms, which have been central to government efforts to reduce record court backlogs."}],[{"start":43,"text":"The new proposals will still include allowing complex fraud and financial offences to be heard by a judge sitting alone."}],[{"start":51.65,"text":"Defendants who are charged with “either way” offences — criminal offences such as theft that can be heard in the magistrates’ or Crown Courts — will also lose the right to elect whether their case is determined by a jury. "}],[{"start":64.1,"text":"Instead, the choice will be made by magistrates, a change that is likely to reduce the number of jury trials. "}],[{"start":71.19999999999999,"text":"Defendants often opt for jury trials when given the choice, judging that they have a better chance of acquittal. "}],[{"start":77.49999999999999,"text":"Under the new plans, more cases would be heard by magistrates, who would be given powers to hear cases in which defendants can be sentenced to two years in prison, up from one year at present."}],[{"start":87.74999999999999,"text":"However, Lammy’s vision of a new juryless tier of the Crown Court, where judges alone determine verdicts in swaths of relatively serious crimes, will not be realised."}],[{"start":98.64999999999999,"text":"Lammy had insisted that introducing juryless trials for several types of criminal offence would allow cases to be heard quicker and help reduce the pressure on the Crown Court, where approximately 81,000 cases are waiting to be heard. The plans had been recommended in a detailed report by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson."}],[{"start":117.94999999999999,"text":"But critics warned that removing the ancient right to trial by jury dismantled a protection against arbitrary power, while having only a limited impact on court backlogs that have arisen from years of funding pressures."}],[{"start":129.6,"text":"Several Labour MPs had signalled that they could vote against the government over the changes, and Burnham himself previously said he had concerns about the plans."}],[{"start":138.7,"text":"The Ministry of Justice said the government would focus on other measures to reduce the court backlog, including the use of AI and virtual hearings."}],[{"start":147.1,"text":"“I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it,” Norris said in a statement."}],[{"start":153.75,"text":"Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of legal reform charity Justice, said she welcomed the move. "}],[{"start":159.35,"text":"“But make no mistake, pushing thousands more cases into already creaking magistrates’ courts, where there are no juries, will not fix our backlog or speed things up,” she added."}],[{"start":171.4,"text":"The Conservatives called the government’s plans a “victory” and called for more court sitting days to reduce the backlog."}],[{"start":184.95000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791093931_2612.mp3"}