The jury is out ..... Secretary of State for Justice announces proposals for criminal justice reform

Back in July, Sir Brian Leveson (a former Lord Justice of Appeal) published the first part of his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Initial thoughts about the report may be read in the previous post 6 July 2025. 

Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part 1 (pdf 388 pages). Part 2 of the report - (Efficiency) - continues to be awaited.

On Tuesday 2 November 2025, the Secretary of State for Justice (Mr David Lammy MP) announced to the House of Commons the government's proposals for criminal justice reforms - see Hansard 2 December. 

At this point we can note that indictable-only offences (i.e. triable ONLY in the Crown Court) will continue to be tried with juries. There are many such offences including murder, manslaughter, causing death by dangerous driving, robbery, aggravated burglary etc. 

An exception will be 'exceptionally technical and lengthy fraud and financial trials' where judges will be able to sit without a jury where appropriate. Lammy said - 'While those cases are small in number, they place undue pressure on jurors to sit for months—a significant interference with their personal and professional lives.'  Naturally one wonders whether that reasoning will come to apply to other types of case - e.g. cases involving difficult forensic or medical evidence etc.

Many offences are "triable either-way" -

The jury under attack from government

“You have little choice when you receive your jury summons. But the criminal justice system relies on you as members of the public to give up your time, pull yourselves from your everyday lives, turn up at court, listen to the evidence, be patient when there are delays, and ultimately make decisions about your peers. The jury system is the best and fairest way of deciding the outcome of trials” - remarks to the jury of  HHJ David Herbert KC, 20 November 2025 at Northampton Crown Court.  

Back in July, Sir Brian Leveson published the first part of his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Initial thoughts about the report may be read in the previous post 6 July 2025. 

Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part 1 (pdf 388 pages). Part 2 of the report - (Efficiency) - is awaited.

The report, if adopted in full, will result in only the more serious criminal cases being tried by Judge and Jury in the Crown Court.    

At the outset, Leveson set the background - 'Criminal justice is in crisis. The open caseload in the Crown Court has now reached a record high. As of December 2024, there were over 75,000 outstanding cases in the Crown Court. That is more than double the numbers in 2019, and trials are being listed as far ahead as 2029.'

The crisis has come about mainly 

Information Commissioner Decision ~ Cabinet Office do not have to disclose whether any Ministers declared a criminal conviction to officials

The Rt Hon Louise Haigh is the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, and has been an MP continually since 7 May 2015. She was Secretary of State for Transport from 5 July 2024 until her resignation on 28 November 2024. 

Haigh's resignation came about after it emerged that, in 2013 before becoming an MP, she had made a false report to the Police. In the Magistrates' Court she pleaded guilty and received a conditional discharge - see BBC 29 November 2025.

On 5 December 2024, a "complainant" submitted a request to the Cabinet Office - "Please state whether any current ministers declared a criminal conviction to officials during their appointment process. If any, please state the number of current ministers [who] declared a criminal conviction to officials during their appointment process.”

The Cabinet Office

Misconduct in Public Office - would a prosecution of Ministers succeed?

In the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 Inquiry's second report (previous post) there have been some calls (notably on X) for prosecution of Ministers for the common law offence of Misconduct in Public Office over their handling of the pandemic back in 2020.

 

The Inquiry Chairman (Baroness Hallett) characterised the handling as 'too little, too late.'

 

However that may be it is unlikely that any prosecution for this common law offence would have any prospect of success.

 

Baroness Hallett (Inquiry Chair) said:

Covid-19 Inquiry - a note on the Second Report (Core decision-making and political governance)

The Covid-19 Inquiry was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2021. It operates under the Inquiries Act 2005 and is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett - a former Lady Justice of Appeal. 

Following a public consultation, the Chair wrote to the Prime Minister to recommend changes to the draft Terms of Reference. The final Terms of Reference were received in June 2022. 

The Inquiry published its first report and recommendations on Thursday 18 July 2024. This examined the state of the UK’s central structures and procedures for pandemic emergency preparedness, resilience and response.

The Inquiry's second report (Core decision-making and political governance) was published on Thursday 20 November 2025. This examines initial response, central government decision making, political and civil service performance as well as the effectiveness of relationships with governments in the devolved administrations and local and voluntary sectors.

See Covid-19 Inquiry Reports.

On 14 November 2025, the government published

UK Supreme Court - Judgment in JR87 - Religious education in Northern Ireland

The Supreme Court of the UK has given judgment in a case from Northern Ireland - An application by JR87 and another for Judicial Review

The decision concerns Article 9 of the ECHR (Freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and Article 2 od Protocol 1 to the ECHR. 

 

Asylum and returns - Home Secretary's announcement 17 November 2025

On 17 November 2025, the government issued a Policy Paper - Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government's asylum and returns policy.  As ever, please give the paper a full and fair reading.

The Home Secretary clearly stated that the present government has no intention of taking the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - (see Hansard - answers to questions). The government claims to have learned lessons from 'international partners, including Denmark' where fundamental reform to its system has seen asylum claims at a 40-year low.  

The Hansard report of the Home Secretary's announcement is HERE. 

 The Introduction to the Paper contains