Barrister questions doubts over 'jury-free trials' plan

A Leeds barrister has questioned radical proposals to scrap jury trials for thousands of cases, claiming it would fail to save time and could lead to miscarriages of justice.

- by Nick Frame

Chris Moran, who works for Park Square Barristers, says the plans proposed by the former senior judge Sir Brian Leveson could erode public confidence in the justice system.

A backlog of more than 77,000 cases are waiting to be heard across the UK.

In a bid to clear the cases quickly, Sir Brian has suggested trials known as "either-way" - that cover mid-level crimes such as theft, certain drug offences, ABH, theft, low-level fraud and sexual assaults - could be tried with a judge sitting alongside two magistrates, rather than the traditional panel of 12 jurors.

But Chris Moran is not convinced by the plan. He suggests some judges can be "tainted" by previous experiences, unlike jurors, which could lead to an unfair trial.