Radical change to prison trials ‘will cease victims struggling’
New Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman warned that victims’ voices must not be lost in a fierce debate between lawyers and politicians over cutting jury trials
Victims’ voices must not be lost in the fierce debate between lawyers and politicians over cutting jury trials, the new victims’ champion has warned.
Claire Waxman, who took up the Victims’ Commissioner role on Monday, suggested it is right that long-held legal traditions are challenged to get past a dire “gridlock” in the courts.
Her comments come as the Government faces a backlash over its plans to reduce jury trials, which it insists it must do to cut the courts backlog.
Ms Waxman, who was a victim of persistent stalking for two decades, said “radical changes” were needed to stop victims being broken by the failing justice system.
Writing in The Mirror, she said: “The government has proposed radical changes, including the potential use of judge-only trials to bypass the gridlock. I know these proposals challenge long-held traditions and they will be fiercely debated. That is only right.
“But we must all face a hard truth: our court system has been turned into an endurance test that breaks the very people it is meant to serve. A system that forces a rape survivor to wait five or more years for their chance at justice is not working. This is justice in name only.”
She said the status quo is “untenable” and warned that victims will continue to “walk away” from the courts process, leaving criminals unpunished.
She continued: “The status quo is untenable and every day we hesitate, the queue grows longer, and more victims walk away – leaving offenders to act with impunity. We must finally turn the tide on this crisis. “In the coming months, we will hear much about legal precedent and courtroom mechanics. My job is to ensure the victims’ voice is not lost in important debates about tradition and process.”
In December, Justice Secretary David Lammy announced plans for criminals facing sentences of less than three years to lose access to jury trials. Under the plan, the number of cases going to juries is expected to halve from 3% to 1.5%.
Juries will still remain for the most serious crimes including rape, murder, kidnap, rioting, terrorism and robbery, which are known as “indictable” offences and must be heard in the Crown Court. Ministers have insisted they must reduce jury trials to help cut the courts backlog, which sits at nearly 80,000 cases and is leaving victims waiting years for justice.
The changes follow a major review by retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson, who proposed a new courts division involving a judge and two magistrates. The Government went further and decided to propose judge-only trials.
Keir Starmer faces a threat of a major rebellion when he introduces legislation on the issue, with almost 40 Labour MPs having branded the proposal “madness” last month(DEC).
The Conservatives on Wednesday used their opposition day in the Commons to call for the change to be rejected.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman said no other Government had “the guts” to carry out the reforms that Labour is proposing to undertake.
She said jury trials were taking twice as long as 25 years ago, which led to victims waiting longer for trials or dropping out of them.
“This Government is making investment, turning round an oil tanker which has been run to the ground for years when we inherited it,” she told MPs.
“But let me be absolutely clear, funding alone will not solve the problem. The Government cannot simply sit its way out and write a blank cheque.”
When the jury plans were announced, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said the proposals bring “a wrecking ball to a system that is fundamentally sound and has been in place for generations”.
She said: “Juries work – they do their job superbly, and without bias. Juries have not caused the backlog.The very way this decision making process has been managed continues to undermine the public faith in our justice system.”
