“Responding to the latest proposals, senior lawyers reiterated objections to reforming the jury system. “You don’t save time by making the system more complicated,” Andrew Thomas KC chairman of the Criminal Bar Association,” told The Times. “They also expressed fears that the proposed system would spawn a round of challenges to the initial decision of judges to send a case to trial without a jury. “It is what lawyers call satellite litigation,” Thomas said, adding that the system “is really simple: minor offences are tried in the magistrates’ court; more serious cases are tried in the crown court with a jury. Let’s keep it simple.” Full article here: thetimes.com/article/fa717e3…

Andy Burnham may not drop plans to restrict access to jury trials, despite previously suggesting he would, The Times reports. The PM could still back proposals to remove the right of defendants to opt for a jury trial for “either way” offences. thetimes.com/uk/politics/art… (1/3)

Once again I spent a day in a large Crown Court yesterday, privileged to witness the comings and goings of people with all their heartache and the stress carried by judges, court clerks, ushers and criminal barristers who hold it together. It’s getting better. But it’s v tough.

The whole point of this kind of review is to speak truth to power,” adds Andrew Thomas KC chair of the Criminal Bar Association.” Read @thetimes report by @legalhackette “Juries do not delay fraud cases, report says” The government ‘sat on’ the review while the Courts and Tribunals Bill was scrutinised, so its strong recommendation to keep jury trials was not considered” “But he [Andrew Thomas KC] stresses that when the government asked MPs to vote in favour of the bill in March, which included clauses abolishing the right to trial by jury in fraud cases, it “did not tell them that they were sitting on an independent report which recommended the precise opposite”. “Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the Bar Council, notes that no reason has been given for the government’s delayed response. She says: “It’s hard to accept that it is a coincidence that the delay prevented this powerful argument against removal of juries in fraud trials at committee stage” of the bill. “We hope that this report is the final nail in the coffin for the previous administration’s attempts to reduce jury trials,” Brimelow adds.” thetimes.com/article/4c73540…

"Leave juries alone." The Times reports today that the government is considering a different approach to the previous government on changes to criminal justice. However, the proposals would still restrict the right to jury trial by giving judges the power to decide which cases go to a jury trial. The government should move away from wasting further parliamentary time and resources on other jury restricting experiments, and focus on the actual issues that are causing delays in the system. Our Chair @Kirsty_Brimelow KC explains on Times Radio this morning. ⬇️ #JusticeNeedsJuries

Taking over as CBA Chair today is Andrew Thomas KC, of Lincoln House Chambers , Manchester, who served as Vice Chair over the past year, and Kama Melly KC, of Park Square Barristers, Leeds, as Vice Chair. Our own Northern Powerhouse are ready for the challenges of the year ahead. Au revoir and thanks to Riel Karmy-Jones KC. Riel Karmy-Jones KC’s term of office as Chair of the CBA came to an end on 31st August 2026. We are hugely grateful to Riel for her peerless leadership of the CBA, initially as Vice Chair with Mary Prior KC and then as Chair for the past twelve months.

I would like to welcome @kamamelly into her new role as Vice Chair of @TheCriminalBar. It is fantastic to have such a strong voice from @ne_circuit representing the Bar at a national level and she deserves all of our support in this role and when she later takes over as Chair.

We all owe our thanks to @RKarmyJonesKC as she steps down as Chair of @TheCriminalBar. She has worked tirelessly on our behalf and has been a real pleasure to work with.

The gov is in difficulty re prison overcrowding due to so many years of neglect. Knee-jerk policy implementation & starving it of investment has brought the finest criminal justice system to near collapse & led to a complete lack of public confidence. Shame on those responsible.

A reminder “Andy Burnham is preparing to remove controversial plans to curb jury trials from David Lammy’s courts bill, allies have said.” As reported earlier this month: “Sources close to the prime minister-in-waiting told @Telegraph that he was drawing up proposals to strike out the sections of the Courts and Tribunals Bill that relate to scrapping jury trials.” Full article here and key extracts below telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…

My thoughts re the appointment of @AlexJJNorris and my firm wish on behalf of the North Eastern Circuit that we have turned a corner and can look forward to all working collaboratively together to rebuild the criminal justice system …

There have been highly effective non lawyer Lord Chancellors, @michaelgove the best yet - the experience to listen before delivering change @AlexJJNorris is sensible and will take note If he can be as good as Gove then @andyburnham’s 10 year plan is OK linkedin.com/posts/james-ros…

Opening the courts fully to bring down backlogs is so radical that it hadn’t been tried since 2014-18 when the backlog nearly halved to 33,000 That’s radical. And it’s happening Cutting trial by jury is regressive.

On behalf of the North Eastern Circuit congratulations and welcome to your new role @AlexJJNorris.

We should approach this with cautious optimism ……

It is clear the political campaign and evidence-based arguments have had a real impact. There is still much work to be done but as a profession we should be proud of what we have achieved so far … committees.parliament.uk/com…

Not because of juries Update: Chair Riel Karmy-Jones KC In 2025, nearly 7,500 Crown Court trials, and 20,500 Magistrates Court trials were cancelled on the first day of trial  - the main factors being over-listing, a lack of judges or magistrates, legal advisors, lawyers, interpreters, and the ongoing failure of the Prison Escort Services [PECS] to deliver prisoners to court on time or at all. Not because of juries.  And for each of those cases there will have been a criminal barrister or advocate prepared and ready to conduct that trial, whose working life will have been thrown into chaos as a result.   The cap on sitting days was, lifted, in theory with full effect from 1st April. However, that full effect doesn’t seem to be happening.

Thank you for the mention and the excellent article ….

Instead of “haemorrhaging public money trying to vandalise the jury system”, Chair Riel Karmy-Jones KC in @thetimes calls on ministers to fix the causes of court delays, which include the PECS contracts. A report by @legalhackette says “Riel Karmy-Jones KC chair of the Criminal Bar Association, echoes Bar Council Chair @Kirsty_Brimelow concerns about the “profound” and devastating impact of delays caused by PECS, which she says the CBA has highlighted for years.” thetimes.com/uk/law/article/…

One London court is reported to have set a trial date in December 2030. And yet, 19% of courtrooms sit closed today. 103 courtrooms sitting empty. This is no way to run a justice system. And it is certainly no excuse to restrict jury trials.