Here’s a radical way to save England’s collapsing justice system: get rid of juries | Simon Jenkins

We’re saddled with an archaic system. As record numbers of trials stall and costs soar, it’s time for us to ditch this relicAre the middle ages about to end? We all know Magna Cartaset the principle that justice delayed is justice denied. These days, outmoded British judicial systems amount to precisely such a denial of justice, playthings of a legal profession supremely confident of its perfection. No aspect of these systems is more superfluous than juries. There is no conclusive evidence they are more “just” than systems based on judges in the rest of Europe – or in non-jury courts in Britain.As of September 2024, a record 73,000 trials in England and Wales are, like A&E patients, waiting their turn in a bureaucratic corridor. In March, a trial of a man alleged to have been threatening members of the public with a machete was postponed for three and a half years to 2028. According to a 2023 report by the charity Rape Crisis, on average adult survivors of rape in England and Wales face a wait of 787 days from reporting to case completion in court – with many victims and survivors waiting much longer. They note that the picture has significantly worsened since their report, with the latest available criminal court statistics from the Ministry of Justice revealing that the number of sexual offences waiting to go to the crown court is now 11,981 – a record high and an increase by 41% in two years.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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