Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is planning to take to ensure that public confidence in the criminal justice system is maintained if the use of jury trials is reduced.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice. The significant delays in our courts are corrosive of public confidence in our justice system. In many cases, witnesses and victims are pulling out of the court process, resulting in the collapse of trials and justice not being served. That is why this Government is determined to tackle the crisis and why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation. The central purpose of these reforms is precisely to restore public confidence in the justice system.
Whilst jury trial will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following reforms, it is important to recognise that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. The removal of the defendants’ right to elect is compatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. As you will be aware, the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conducted fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. Only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury currently.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals to remove jury trials for offences other than the most serious crimes on defendants’ rights.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst the jury trial will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following reforms, it is important to recognise that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. The removal of the defendants’ right to elect or right to insist on a jury trial irrespective of the seriousness of the offence is compatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. As you will be aware, the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conduct fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. Only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury currently.
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice. One of the first priorities of this Government has been to tackle this crisis, which is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his independent review. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff within the HM Prison & Probation Service reliant on visas for employment have been employed since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the requested information requested data in an easily accessible format. Right to Work data is collected during the vetting stage but is not retained within the employment record. As a result, extracting this information would require a manual review of individual vetting files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing juries from trials on an individual’s right to a free and fair trial.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The removal of the defendants’ right to elect is compatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. Whilst jury trial will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following these reforms, it is important to recognise that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. As you will be aware, the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conducted fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. Only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury currently.
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice. One of the first priorities of this Government has been to tackle this crisis, which is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his independent review. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many additional cases are expected to be heard each year under the new swift courts compared with existing Crown Court processes.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Of the 3% of criminal trial cases that proceed to a jury trial in the Crown Court, over half would still proceed to the Crown Court and get a jury trial post-reform. The remainder would be expected to stay in the magistrates’ courts or would be allocated to the new ‘swift courts’.
The new ‘swift courts’ will operate within the existing Crown Court, and this means they will be dealing with the same cases that come into the Crown Court. As mode of trial allocations and trial listing remain a matter for the independent judiciary and are dependent on case mix, the Ministry of Justice is unable to comment on how cases arriving at the Crown Court will be distributed between ‘swift courts’ and jury trials.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost savings from expanding DNA testing in criminal trials.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not collect or hold data which would link the use of DNA testing, or any other type of evidence produced by the prosecution, with the overall efficiency of criminal trials. Therefore, it is not possible to make an estimate of any cost savings.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the right to jury trial on the number of appeals and judicial review applications.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following reforms to the criminal courts, appellants will continue to have the right to appeal convictions and sentences received in both magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court. Permission to appeal will be granted by the judiciary where the appeal has a real prospect of success.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners with convictions for (a) sexual and (b) violent offences are housed within the general female prison estate; and how many of those prisoners have been granted a Ministerial exemption to remain there in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As of 1 December, there were no transgender women, including individuals with Gender Recognition Certificates, in the general women's prison estate with any convictions for sexual offences and five or fewer transgender women with convictions for violent offences. (Where statistics include a total of five or fewer, the exact figure is not given, for data protection reasons.)
The individuals with convictions for violent offences received Ministerial exemptions to be held in the general women's estate under the previous Government. No exemptions have been provided by this Government since it came into power.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any offenders currently detained in (a) separation and (b) close supervision centres are challenging their detention.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There are no ongoing judicial review challenges made with regards to separation centres and no ongoing challenges that have reached the courts with regards to close supervision centres.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many perpetrators of cyber crime were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted in (i) 2022, (ii) 2023 and (iii) 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There are no offences specifically defined in legislation as “cyber crime,” however the Computer Misuse Act 1990 has a number of offences that could be considered as such.
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data concerning prosecutions and convictions available here: Criminal Justice Statistics.