Government plans to scrap jury trials in serious and complex fraud cases could mark a major shift in the UK criminal justice system, but risk failing to address its underlying flaws.
Speaking to Law360, BCL partner David Hardstaff, said proposals to allow judges to sit alone in complex fraud trials are a response to long-standing pressures rather than a genuine solution.
“Everyone within the system knows the real cause is decades of under-investment,” David said. “Temporary measures may be unavoidable, but the answer lies in modernising our courts and using technology to fix what is, at its core, a systems failure.”
While the reforms aim to reduce court backlogs, white-collar lawyers question whether removing juries will deliver real efficiencies and warn the changes could reshape defence strategy in high-stakes fraud prosecutions.
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