North West Barristers take jury argument to Court and Parliament

BarristerS on the Northern Circuit (the legal Region covering the North West of England) have strongly opposed the Government's plans to restrict jury trials by engaging with local MPs, at Crown Courts, within the Region, and in Westminster. 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.

Barristers practising in Courts across the North West invited MPs to meet them in Liverpool and Chester Crown Courts to show them around the Court buildings, meet with Court staff, and talk with Barristers in the robing rooms about Government proposals to remove the right to elect for jury trials in cases where the sentence may be up to 3 years.

Andrew Thomas KC, Vice Chair of the Criminal Bar Association practising from Lincoln House Chambers, in Manchester, and Martin Reid KC of 7 Harrington Street Chambers in Liverpool visited Liverpool Crown Court, with Kim Johnson MP (Labour, Liverpool Central).

Rebecca Filletti (criminal Barrister also at Lincoln House Chambers) attended Chester Crown Court with Samantha Dixon MP (Labour, Chester North and Neston).

The constituency Court day took place across England and Wales with around 20 MPs visiting 10 Crown Courts; at least1in each of the 6 circuits (legal Regions).

In terms of bearing down on the backlog, Liverpool and Chester Crown Courts are 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 Liverpool increased by just 5.9% and in Chester by 8.4%.

Liverpool Crown Court is considered an example of good practice in managing the backlog due to case management and case listing practices.

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, Northern Circuit Barristers then travelled to Westminster to meet with their local MPs.

There they spoke to MPs about the problems in the criminal justice system and asked them 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.

Northern Circuit Leader Samantha Hillas KC said:- "The strength of feeling among Barristers across the whole of the North 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 them is not the answer. There is good reason why Liverpool Crown Court gets several mentions in Sir Brian Leveson's review into efficiency in the Crown Courts and is held up as a Court that has managed the backlog successfully, we don't need to restrict the right to jury trial to get the backlog down, we need to run the Courts well. That's what Liverpool does. The judicial capability to do so is there. The willingness of the Bar to do so is there. If we added the will of the Government and the funding required, we could make inroads into the backlog this month. And no1would lose the rights they currently enjoy. I'm proud that Barristers practising in the North West 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."