Lammy: 'We have to bear down on the backlog' of cases

ODN

Justice Secretary David Lammy says that plans to reform the justice system, including potentially removing jury trials for some offences, are necessary "to bear down on the backlog" of cases. The Deputy Prime Minister will 'confirm the importance' of jury trials but a government review will reflect on "changes that we do need to make for crimes that have a lower sentence". Report by Ketchs. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00We've got a terrible backlog in our criminal justice system.

00:03It means if you're raped in our country today,

00:06you might be waiting until 2028 or 2029 for your hearing to come on.

00:11And that means that 60% of women at the moment and men are dropping out of those sorts of cases

00:17because the trauma over that period is obviously too challenging.

00:23For that reason, we have to bear down on the backlog.

00:25We've asked Sir Brian Leveson to look at this issue.

00:27It means reform, and I will be confirming the importance of juries in our system this afternoon,

00:34but reflecting on changes that we do need to make for crimes that have a lower sentence.

00:41For example, if you're in possession of cannabis, should that be dealt with by a jury?

00:45Should you be able to elect for a jury or should it be dealt with by a magistrate?

00:49And of course, I'll be investing in victims, 550 million, to support victims over this next period

00:55and in our legal profession, we do need more legal aid criminal barristers

01:00if we're going to get through that backlog, and they've got to be paid appropriately.

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