Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, has proposed reform of the criminal courts system in England and Wales.
The UK Government was publishing its response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part I, by Sir Brian Leveson, published in July 2025. Mr Lammy said he was calling time on the ‘courts emergency’. He said: “For many victims, justice delayed is often justice denied. Some give up on the process, while others have no confidence justice will be served if they report a crime, and perpetrators never held to account.
“The system we inherited has led to a Crown Court backlog due to hit 100,000 outstanding cases by 2028. Behind each of those cases is a victim who has been forced to put their life on hold while they wait desperately for justice. This simply cannot go on – we must be bold. I will set out a fast and fair justice plan that gives victims and survivors the swift justice they deserve.”
The Law Society of England and Wales said the proposals went too far in eroding a fundamental right to be judged by a jury of peers. Vice president Brett Dixon said the criminal court backlogs were the result of decades of under-investment in the criminal justice system. He said: “Sir Brian Leveson’s recommendations, including two magistrates sitting alongside a judge in the new court, retained an element of lay participation in determining a person’s guilt or innocence. The government’s proposals remove this.
“Allowing a single judge, operating in an under-resourced system, to decide guilt in a serious and potentially life-changing case is a dramatic departure from our shared values.
“The government cannot justify stripping away this fundamental right without publishing clear evidence that putting more cases in the hands of a single judge will tackle the horrendous backlogs in our courts.
“The Leveson proposals, while an uncomfortable compromise, were understandable given the extensive challenges the criminal justice system faces including unacceptable delays for victims, witnesses and defendants. Going beyond them is not.”
Meanwhile Mr Lammy called for a rebalance of the justice system to serve victims first. He said: “Far too many victims of rape are dropping out of the system because they feel that they are the ones on trial. This has enabled vile rapists to evade the punishment they deserve for far too long. This must stop.” The department pointed to research by the former Victims’ Commissioner that, in 2024, nearly 60pc of victims overall believed they couldn’t get justice.
Comments
For the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Joint Leads on Criminal Justice, Danielle Stone (PCC for Northamptonshire) and Alison Hernandez (PCC for Devon and Cornwall) noted the report Sir Brian Leveson into the ‘crisis our criminal courts face and how the public are being let down by our broken system, be they a victim, witness or the accused’. They described the department’s response as ‘an important first step in driving real change in our courts’.
They said: “Targeted funding to increase the number of courts that can hear serious cases is the right first step in reducing the long delays victims face. Investing in making our courts modern and fit for purpose is long overdue and a welcome response to Sir Brian’s report.
“We accept the need for the crown court to hear the right type of serious case and the changes to jury trials must be managed in a proportionate and fair way. Improvements can be achieved through reclassifying which cases can be heard in which court, but this must not erode our system of justice and fairness we all work to protect.
“As PCCs we continue to fund local victim services, and we will work with our criminal justice partners to help make these announced changes happen in our local courts.”
