North West barristers oppose plans to curb jury trials

Legal professionals on the Northern Circuit, which covers the North West of England, are opposing plans to restrict jury trials.

Their campaign forms part of the ‘Justice needs juries’ initiative, which argues that court delays stem not from juries, but from long-term underinvestment in the system.

Recent government proposals would remove the right to jury trials in cases where the maximum sentence is up to three years.

As part of their campaign, barristers invited MPs to visit courts in Chester and Liverpool to discuss the impact of the proposed changes.

Rebecca Filletti, a criminal barrister at Lincoln House Chambers in Manchester, met Samantha Dixon, MP for Chester North and Neston, during a visit to Chester Crown Court.

The meetings gave MPs the opportunity to speak with barristers, court staff, and other professionals about the Government’s proposals.

Andrew Thomas KC, vice chair of the Criminal Bar Association and barrister at Lincoln House Chambers, joined Martin Reid KC of 7 Harrington Street Chambers in Liverpool, and Kim Johnson, MP for Liverpool Central, on a visit to Liverpool Crown Court.

Northern Circuit barristers later travelled to Westminster to continue discussions with MPs and emphasise the value of jury trials.

Northern Circuit leader, Samantha Hillas KC, 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 is held up as a court that has managed the backlog successfully – we don’t need to restrict the right to jury trial to get the backlog down, we need to run the courts well.”

Court performance data shows that the backlog in Liverpool grew by 5.9 per cent from 2024 to 2025, while Chester saw an 8.4 per cent rise.

This is compared to the national average increase of 9.3 per cent, bringing the total backlog in England and Wales to 79,619 cases.

Ms Hillas KC said: “I’m proud that barristers practising in the North West have taken the time to meet with their MPs.”