Jury-less courts would be 'lunacy, leading Welsh lawyer warns

Welsh barrister Andrew Taylor tells Conor Gogarty why he thinks justice secretary David Lammy's plan to restrict the right to a jury trial undermines public confidence in the justice system

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A VETERAN barrister has slammed the justice secretary's proposal to restrict the right to a jury trial as "lunacy. Cardiff-based Andrew Taylor believes the change would "completely undermine public confidence in the justice system".

According to a leaked Ministry of Justice (MoJ) briefing, David Lammy wants to create a new tier of jury-less courts in Wales and England. A jury trial would only be guaranteed for defendants facing a charge of murder, manslaughter or rape, or otherwise passing a "public interest test".

The UK Government says there has been no "final decision" but believes the plan would help cut crown courts' record backlog of more than 78,000 cases.

However Mr Taylor fears there could be a "hidden agenda" aimed at exerting more political control over the courts.

"The jury in this country has been all-important for civil rights and the preservation of our liberties since the William Penn case 350 years ago when judges were divested of their ability to convict people," said Mr Taylor, who has been a criminal barrister for 39 years.

"In 1948 this country was bankrupt. We had been through a war and there was very little money in the exchequer.

"To their eternal credit, Clement Attlee's Labour government found the money to fund the Legal Aid Act, which is still in force today."

The law, which ensured people in poverty could access legal representation, has been a guardrail to stop the UK falling into "the horrors of what they had seen happen in Germany," said Mr Taylor.

"They wanted to preserve the cornerstone of justice in this country. You can't have a fair country if you do not have a just country.