Proposed Reforms to the Courts and Tribunals Bill raise important questions about our justice system – importantly for us, is our current system delivering justice at all?
As Parliament begins detailed scrutiny of the Courts and Tribunals Bill next week, there is renewed debate about proposed reforms to the criminal justice system – specifically, the introduction of judge-alone trials to replace jury trials in cases where a guilty verdict could attract a custodial sentence of up to three years, a measure which would impact on circa 1% of the total number of criminal trials.
Survivors of sexual violence and abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls, are being badly let down by the current system, and understandably have a wide range of experiences and views about this issue - and many others concerning our justice system.
Some are supportive of removing juries in some cases, others are deeply uneasy about the implications for fairness, accountability and the potential impact on Black and minoritised women in particular. We share – and have previously expressed - many of the same concerns, all of which must be taken seriously and addressed as part of the parliamentary scrutiny process.
This debate needs to be approached with nuance. Delays in the Crown Court are now so severe that the backlog has reached 80,000 cases, including more than 13,000 sexual offence cases. Government modelling suggests this will rise to 148,000 cases in the next 5 years, surpassing 150,000 in mid 2031, if no action is taken. And this will continue to rise dramatically even with significant financial investment, if it isn’t accompanied by changes to the way in which our justice system is structured and delivered.
For those going through the system, these delays mean prolonged uncertainty, disruption to their careers, family lives and relationships, and a loss of confidence in the possibility of justice. Survivors of rape and sexual abuse are already waiting, on average, 499 days for their case to be listed (longer for cases involving children) after they have already endured lengthy investigation times, with some rape trials now being listed as late as 2028 or 2029.
One of the central questions is therefore not only whether juries are central to the delivery of justice in this cohort of cases, but whether the current system is delivering justice at all. Our consultations with survivors strongly suggest it isn’t, and a wide range of data and research suggests that investment alone, without structural change to the system alongside it, will simply preserve the status quo – already agonising for survivors.
Measures to reduce the backlog can comprise only one part of a much broader package of structural, financial, and most importantly cultural reforms, if we truly wish to address racial, class and other bias (such as gender, age, and ability), the influence of rape myths, harmful stereotypes and failures in trauma-informed practice that characterise survivors’ experiences of it at present. Mechanisms that increase transparency, scrutiny, and monitoring and oversight in the criminal as well as the family courts will be central to this, and we welcome proposals which mean that judges in the Crown Court Bench Division will need to explain their verdicts in open court – something juries do not do.
Providing these concerns are addressed as part of a much broader package of criminal court reforms, we think juryless trials for some cases could be part of the answer to the wider criminal court backlogs, as well as transparency and accountability in decision-making.
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