Barristers slam government plans to restrict jury trials while meeting with MPs at crown courts
Barristers slammed government plans to restrict jury trials while meeting with MPs at crown courts in Hampshire and at parliament.
The events were organised as part of the ‘Justice needs juries’ campaign, spearheaded by barristers who argue that delays in the courts are not due to juries, but due to chronic under-investment in the system.
Highlighting their argument, barristers said over half of Winchester Crown Court courtrooms were closed on any given day between December and June last year.
Barristers practising in Hampshire’s crown courts, which is part of the Western Circuit, invited MPs to meet them at Portsmouth, Winchester, Bristol and Exeter’s crown courts. There they showed them around the court buildings and discussed proposals to remove jury trials in cases where the sentence may be up to three years.
Western Circuit leader Sarah Jones KC, South Eastern Circuit leader Claire Davies KC and former Western Circuit leader Jo Martin KC met with Dr Danny Chambers, Winchester MP, at Winchester Crown Court.
They went down to the cells and discussed the issues with the court infrastructure, including a leak in the ceiling. Barrister Ellie Fargin met with Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, at Portsmouth Crown Court and explained how well the Western Circuit was managing listing trials in comparison with some other circuits.
The constituency court day took place across England and Wales with around 20 MPs visiting 10 crown courts – at least one in each of the six circuits (legal regions).
In terms of bearing down on the backlog, Winchester Crown Court is performing slightly better than the national average. Between 2024 and 2025, the overall backlog in England and Wales increased by 9.3% to 79,619. In the same time period, the backlog in Winchester increased by 5.9% with 361 cases in the backlog.
Alongside the Bar Council, which represents 18,000 barristers across England and Wales, and the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents barristers specialising in crime, Western Circuit barristers then travelled to Westminster to meet with their local MPs.
There they spoke about the problems in the criminal justice system and asked MPs not to support proposals to curtail juries as it is draining energy and focus from implementing the changes that can be shown to bring down the crown court backlog now.
Western Circuit leader Ms Jones KC said: “The strength of feeling among barristers across the whole of the South and South 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 their involvement is not the answer.
“We need greater investment across the system to tackle the issues that cause delays – defendants repeatedly brought late to court, crumbling buildings that can’t be used, and a limit placed on the number of days judges can sit so that court rooms sit empty.
“From December to June last year, 53% of courtrooms at Winchester Crown Court were shut on any given day – that is unacceptable. We know that our criminal justice system works when properly resourced and when judges are provided the resources required.
“I’m proud that barristers practising in the Western Circuit have taken the time to meet with their MPs – both in the region and in London – to set out our argument that justice needs juries.”