BARRISTERS in the north west say they are ‘strongly opposed’ to the Government’s plans to restrict jury trials.
Legal representatives on the northern circuit, the legal region covering the north west of England, have been engaging with MPs at crown courts in the region, as well as in Westminster.
The events were organised as part of the Justice Needs Juries campaign, spearheaded by barristers who argue that delays in the courts are not due to juries, but due to chronic under-investment in the system.
Barristers practising in courts across the north west invited MPs to meet them in Liverpool and Chester Crown Courts to show them around the court buildings, meet with court staff, and talk with barristers in the robing rooms.
They discussed Government proposals to remove the right to elect for jury trials in cases where the sentence may be up to three years.
The constituency court day took place across England and Wales, with around 20 MPs visiting 10 crown courts.
In terms of bearing down on the backlog, Liverpool Crown Court and Chester Crown Court are performing slightly better than the national average.
Between 2024 and 2025, the overall backlog in England and Wales increased by 9.3 per cent to 79,619.
In the same time period, the backlog in Liverpool increased by just 5.9 per cent, and in Chester by 8.4 per cent.
Liverpool Crown Court is considered an example of good practice in managing the backlog due to case management and case listing practices.
Alongside the Bar Council, which represents 18,000 barristers across England and Wales, and the Criminal Bar Association, which represents barristers specialising in crime, northern circuit barristers then travelled to Westminster to meet with their local MPs.
There, they spoke to MPs about the problems in the criminal justice system and asked them not to support proposals to curtail juries, as it is draining energy and focus from implementing the changes that can be shown to bring down the crown court backlog now.
Samantha Hillas KC, the northern circuit leader, said: “The strength of feeling among barristers across the whole of the north west – and indeed the country – is clear: we oppose plans to restrict jury trials for both principled and practical reasons.
“We all want to see the backlog in the courts brought down for the sake of complainants, witnesses, and defendants, as well as those working in the system.
“But juries did not cause the backlog, and research shows that reducing them is not the answer.
“There is good reason why Liverpool Crown Court gets several mentions in Sir Brian Leveson’s review into efficiency in the crown courts, and why it is held up as a court that has managed the backlog successfully.
“We do not need to restrict the right to jury trial to get the backlog down – we need to run the courts well, and that is what Liverpool does.
“The judicial capability to do so is there. The willingness of the bar to do so is there.
“If we added the will of the Government, and the funding required, we could make inroads into the backlog this month, and no one would lose the rights they currently enjoy.
“I am proud that barristers practising in the north west have taken the time to meet with their MPs – both in the region and in London – to set out our argument that justice needs juries.”
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