UPDATE 1-UK announces plans to restrict jury trials to help ailing judicial system

Britain will remove the right to trial by jury for criminal cases for some less serious offences to address a growing crisis in the court system, justice minister David Lammy said on Tuesday. Britain's judicial system is creaking, with tens of thousands of criminal cases stuck in a court backlog and jails so full that prisoners are being released early to ease the strain, with instances convicts being freed by mistake.

Britain will remove the right to trial by jury for criminal cases for some less serious offences to address a growing crisis in the court system, justice minister David Lammy said on Tuesday.

Britain's judicial system is creaking, with tens of thousands of criminal cases stuck in a court backlog and jails so full that prisoners are being released early to ease the strain, with instances convicts being freed by mistake. The new measures to restrict jury trial would apply to cases where a prison sentence was likely to be less than three years, and would not include offences such as murder, rape, robbery and arson, said Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister.

"I'm clear that jury trials will continue to be the cornerstone of the system for the most serious offenses," Lammy told parliament. According to the government, there are about 78,000 cases waiting to be heard before juries in Crown Courts, a figure expected to reach 100,000 by 2028, meaning that victims must wait years to see justice.

Some trials in London are currently being listed to be heard in 2029 or 2030, with concern that some complainants and witnesses are dropping out as a result.

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