Overview
- Cases with a likely sentence of up to three years will be heard by a single judge in new swift courts, ending defendants’ ability to elect a jury in many either‑way cases, with juries retained for the most serious crimes.
- The package raises magistrates’ sentencing powers to 18–24 months and extends judge‑only trials to complex fraud, with an estimated 20% time saving cited by officials and Sir Brian Leveson.
- Government support measures include £550 million for victim services over three years, extra Crown Court sitting days, higher legal aid fees for advocates, and an annual funding boost for criminal solicitors.
- Ministers frame the overhaul as a response to a Crown Court backlog of roughly 78,000–80,000 cases that the Ministry of Justice warns could reach 100,000 by 2028 without intervention.
- Legal bodies and politicians register strong opposition, warning of harm to the jury right and the criminal Bar, with the Law Society, Bar Council and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham calling for a pause or rethink.