Lammy Proposes Scrapping Jury Trials For Most Criminal Cases. Justice Secretary David Lammy is proposing that only the most serious offences — including rape, murder, manslaughter and cases passing a strict public-interest test — would automatically qualify for a jury trial. According to an internal Ministry of Justice briefing obtained by the BBC, ministers are exploring a new tier of jury-less courts, that would handle the vast majority of cases currently tried in the Crown Court. The MoJ says no final decision has been made. The proposals aim to tackle record court backlogs, with more than 78,000 cases waiting to be completed. Some suspects charged today may not be tried until 2029 or 2030, and officials warn the backlog could exceed 100,000 without urgent reform. Lammy’s plan would remove jury trials for defendants facing sentences of up to five years, marking one of the biggest shifts in criminal justice in modern times.