The jury is still out on Lammy's 'swift court' reforms

“Cabinet feedback” seems to be the euphemism of the day, at least so far as David Lammy’s sweeping reforms to the criminal court system in England and Wales go.

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One can only imagine the formal and informal pressure that was exerted on the lord chancellor when his colleagues discovered, via leaks and, presumably, Whitehall gossip, that a shakeup of the legal system, which would signal the beginning of the end for trial by jury, was supposedly being considered, according to The Independent.

Lammy has instead announced the creation of new “swift courts”, which will see a judge decide verdicts in thousands of cases, scrapping jury trials for “either way” cases, including those for assault, burglary and drug dealing. This is one government U-turn that is to be warmly welcomed.