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The Justice Secretary has been warned by violence against women and girls campaigners that cutting jury trials risks “unfair outcomes that undermine justice for everyone”.
Thirty leading organisations from across the VAWG sector have jointly written to David Lammy, urging him to drop plans to nearly halve the number of jury trials in England and Wales.
The organisations, including Solace Women's Aid, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Rights of Women, and Respect, have warned it will deepen mistrust in the justice system among victims, distract from measures to reduce violence, and fail to address the court backlogs that impact survivors.
Plans to limit jury trials to cases with a likely sentence of three years or more passed their latest parliamentary hurdle last week.
These cases would instead be heard by a single crown court judge, under the Bill's proposals.
Additionally, magistrates' courts would be able to take on cases with a likely sentence of up to two years.
The letter to Mr Lammy reads: “The suggestion that jury trials, and the requirements they place on the system, favour defendants and undermine the rights of victims is a mischaracterisation, and risks overlooking the very real and damaging power imbalances that do impact survivors of VAWG, and particularly minoritised women, both in their everyday life and when they come into contact with the criminal justice system.”
The organisations write that juries can be flawed, but add: “Juries, as a group of people representing a cross section of society, provide a plurality of perspectives that can counterbalance biases through collective deliberation, compared to a single judge.”
It also appears to warn that more victims could pull out of prosecutions as a result of disruption to the system: “The Government’s proposed reforms will likely create significant operational disruption and practical challenges that pull resources from more effective measures to reduce the backlog. This would prolong the uncertainty that leads many survivors to withdraw support for the prosecution of their abuser. Any step that destabilises an already overstretched criminal justice system directly undermines the aim of delivering swift, fair and reliable justice for victims.”
The letter also critiques the assertion from the Government that defendants “game the system” by selecting a jury trial. It writes that this “fails to recognise that having this choice can be crucial for women facing prosecution who are survivors of violence, particularly minoritised women”.
A significant number of Labour backbenchers have also criticised the proposed reforms, including Kingston upon Hull East's MP Karl Turner who branded the changes "unworkable, unpopular, unjust and unnecessary".
Mr Lammy, who is also the Justice Secretary, had pleaded with MPs to support the Bill, warning there is an urgent need to address rising court backlogs in England and Wales.
The Commons voted 304 to 203, majority 101, to pass the Bill at second reading.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “No-one has more lived and varied experience of the justice system than victims’ groups representing brave survivors across the country – and we wholeheartedly welcome all views as we move forward with these vital reforms.
“We had a positive and constructive meeting with a number of signatories today and look forward to working collaboratively with them on our reform package and the independent review of its implementation so we can deliver fairer and faster justice for all.”