DAVID Lammy has been accused of letting the justice system be “bartered away” over plans to scrap jury trials to help cut a backlog of cases.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick have written to him urging a rethink.
Their letter tells the Justice Secretary: “A system in which serious criminal trials are routinely conducted without juries is one in which trust will ebb away, in which communities will feel judged by a distant establishment, and in which the fear of arbitrary government grows.
“Eight hundred years of history, and the confidence of millions of our constituents, should not be bartered away for a misleading promise of quick administrative gains.
“Trial by jury is one of Britain’s greatest gifts to the world.
“It should not be casually discarded here at home.”
They added the move will “make it harder for ordinary people to feel that the justice system belongs to them”.
Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Chair of the Criminal Bar Association said the decision risked increasing fears of a “tyrannical government”.
She said: “The erosion of the right to jury trial will break the increasingly thin connection between the State and ordinary people, and risks undermining social cohesion and trust in the criminal justice system.”
A leaked memo suggested Mr Lammy will axe jury trials for all but the most serious offences.
The Ministry of Justice said no decision had been taken, but added courts faced “crisis” with a backlog of 78,000 cases.
