UK justice minister plans judge-only courts for lower-level cases

British justice minister David Lammy said on Tuesday that the government would create a new division within Britain's court system to hear lower-level criminal cases without juries, as part of sweeping reforms to tackle a record backlog of trials.

"I will create new swift courts within the Crown Court with a judge alone deciding verdicts," Lammy told parliament, adding that the changes would apply to offences likely to attract sentences of less than three years.