Scrapping jury trials for some offences may be only way to clear court backlog, says CPS watchdog chief
“Removing the right to trial by jury” and “intermediate courts” may be the only way to clear the crown court backlog in England and Wales, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has said.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Anthony Rogers says “radical action” is needed urgently.
“The number of cases waiting to be heard in the crown courts is the highest it’s ever been.
“It’s bringing significant pressure into the whole system. Those we inspect, the Crown Prosecution Service, are under the greatest pressure I’ve ever seen in 25 years of the existence of the inspectorate.
“The thing that worries me more is I can’t see an end to it. I can only see an increasing backlog.”
There are 73,105 outstanding criminal cases waiting to be dealt with in the crown courts, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Rogers says: “If you’re going to fix a problem on this scale, it needs a radical solution.
“It could be anything from removing the right of election to jury trial.
“It could be looking at an intermediate court between the magistrates court and the crown court, radical could literally mean changing the way that we look at the criminal justice system.”
Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, speaks to Sky’s Ashna Hurynag
Both suggestions are being considered under a ‘once-in-a-generation’ independent review announced by the government last week.
Former High Court judge Sir Brian Leveson is leading the major justice review in an effort to tackle the delays.
The government says “nothing is off the table” as jury trials could be scrapped for some offences and “intermediate” middle-tier courts, made up of a judge and two magistrates, are being looked at.
Both are suggestions Mr Rogers says he would support.
“If you did that you would take 20,000 or 30,000 cases out of the backlog.
“You could start by having the simplest cases in the magistrate court, the more serious cases with probably a judge and two lay members in an intermediate court and then have the crown court reserved for the most serious offences like rape, murder, manslaughter, terrorism for example. That is radical, that would solve the problem.”
‘It was like the court was a circus and he was the ringmaster’
It’s a problem Vicki Crawford knows all too well.
Ms Crawford reported historic sexual abuse to the police in 2018. She reached out to Sky News after she waited five years and eight months for her trial to go ahead.
A gruelling wait, she bravely opened up about it.
“With every hearing and every court date, I was nervous and anxious. I had a headache, I felt sick, I couldn’t sleep. The run up to it was awful. I had nightmares. In the middle of the night, I would wake up having panic attacks. I just couldn’t eat, I just felt awful.”
Vicki Crawford, who has waived her right to anonymity, says her case took almost six years from reporting to sentencing
Ms Crawford’s abuser was jailed for seven years after the trial eventually went ahead in March this year.
She explained to Sky News it felt like he was profiting from the constant adjournments, while she was being tortured by it.
“It was like the court was a circus and he was the ringmaster.”
On at least one occasion the trial was adjourned because her perpetrator claimed to be unwell.
“For me, it felt like he had a lot of control over what was going on during the court process. And it was quite frustrating to watch somebody consistently say I can’t come to court today. For such a serious load of charges, I couldn’t quite understand how he was allowed to get away with that, like so many times.”
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As a survivor of sexual abuse, Ms Crawford is entitled to anonymity for life but told us her reason for waiving it.
“The reason I’m waiving my anonymity is because there are thousands of people just like me, look like me, talk like me, think like me, have the same experiences that I’m having in the court system. And nobody puts a face to those people, so, this is me.”
Watchdog warned of delays since 2019
Mr Rogers told Sky News that inspectors have been warning about delays since 2019.
The crisis in the criminal justice system is mirrored in almost every crown court in England and Wales.
In Leicester, Sky News spent time with barristers and court staff and observed delay after delay.
We heard from a judge so exasperated at cases being pushed back to 2026, witnessed crumbling court infrastructure, spoke to barristers fed up with constant adjournments and spoke to victims stuck in the middle.
An overhaul of the criminal justice system is coming – and for many, it can’t come soon enough.
MPs have voted to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales.
The amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, abolishing the prosecution of women for terminating their pregnancy at any stage, passed by 379 votes to 137.
It represents the biggest shake-up in reproductive rights for almost 60 years.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who tabled the so-called “New Clause One” (NC1), said it would ensure women do not face investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment in relation to any pregnancies.
She said the current “Victorian” laws had been used against vulnerable women, citing cases such as Nicola Packer, who was prosecuted on suspicion of having an illegal abortion. She was found not guilty in May.
“Nicola’s story is deplorable, but there are many others,” Ms Antoniazzi said.
Abortion in England and Wales is currently a criminal offence but is legal with an authorised provider for up to 24 weeks after conception. The procedure is allowed after this time in very limited circumstances.
It is also legal to take prescribed related medication at home if a woman is less than 10 weeks pregnant.
Ms Antoniazzi said NC1 was “a narrow, targeted measure” that would not change how abortion services were provided or the rules under the 1967 Abortion Act.
Pro-choice campaigners demonstrating for decriminalising abortion in the UK
She said: “The 24 [week] limit remains. Abortions still require the approval of signatures of two doctors, and women would still have to meet the grounds laid out in the Act.”
The MP said that meant healthcare professionals “acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or poisoning to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now.”
She added: “This piece of legislation will only take women out of the criminal justice system because they are vulnerable and they need our help.
“As I have said before, and I will say it again, just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end.”
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Should abortion be decriminalised?
The change will not come into effect immediately as the Crime and Policing Bill is still making its way through Parliament.
A separate amendment, put forward by Labour MP Stella Creasy, went further with a measure to “lock in” the right of a person to have an abortion while protecting those who help them.
However, her amendment was not voted on because Ms Antoniazzi’s passed, as expected.
Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh, speaking against both amendments, described them as “not pro-woman” and argued they “would introduce sex-selective abortion”.
How did MPs vote?
MPs were given a free vote on the amendment, as is typically the case with so-called matters of conscience.
A breakdown of the vote showed it was passed overwhelmingly by Labour and Lib Dem MPs.
Read more:
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Just eight Conservative MPs voted in favour, while all Reform UK MPs opposed the amendment, with the exception of the party’s leader Nigel Farage, who abstained.
Sir Keir Starmer was not present for the vote as he is currently in Canada for the G7 summit, but said earlier that his “longstanding in-principle position is that women have the right to a safe and legal abortion”.
The issue of women investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions has been in the spotlight due to several recent high-profile cases.
Ms Packer was cleared by a jury last month after taking prescribed abortion medicine at home when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, beyond the legal limit of 10 weeks.
In the Commons, Ms Antoniazzi cited another case of a young mother who was jailed for two years after she was forced to take illegal abortion medication by her abusive partner. He was never investigated.
The UK-US trade deal has been signed and is “done”, US President Donald Trump has said as he met Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit.
The US president told reporters in Canada: “We signed it, and it’s done. It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.”
Sir Keir said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, describing it as a “really important agreement”.
“So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength,” the prime minister added.
Mr Trump added that the UK was “very well protected” against any future tariffs, saying: “You know why? Because I like them”.
However, he did not say whether levies on British steel exports to the US would be set to 0%, saying “we’re gonna let you have that information in a little while”.
Mr Trump also praised Sir Keir as a “great” prime minister, adding: “We’ve been talking about this deal for six years, and he’s done what they haven’t been able to do.”
He added: “We’re very longtime partners and allies and friends and we’ve become friends in a short period of time.
“He’s slightly more liberal than me to put it mildly… but we get along.”
Sir Keir added that “we make it work”.
As the pair exited a mountain lodge in the Canadian Rockies where the summit is being held, Mr Trump held up a physical copy of the trade agreement to show reporters.
Several leaves of paper fell from the binding, and Sir Keir quickly stooped to pick them up, saying: “A very important document.”
Sir Keir Starmer picks up paper from the UK-US trade deal after Donald Trump dropped it at the G7 summit. Pic: Reuters
The US president also appeared to mistakenly refer to a “trade agreement with the European Union” at one point as he stood alongside the British prime minister.
Mr Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on countries in April. At the time, he announced 10% “reciprocal” rates on all UK exports – as well as separately announced 25% levies on cars and steel.
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In a joint televised phone call in May, Sir Keir and Mr Trump announced the UK and US had agreed on a trade deal – but added the details were being finalised.
Ahead of the G7 summit, the prime minister said he would meet Mr Trump for “one-on-one” talks, and added the agreement “really matters for the vital sectors that are safeguarded under our deal, and we’ve got to implement that”.
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