Lammy lambasts ‘courts emergency’ as he prepares to face MPs over plans to slash jury trials

Justice secretary expected to announce plans to tackle backlog of cases as he says system has been pushed to brink of collapse A “courts emergency” that will surpass 100,000 outstanding cases without radical reforms is leaving victims waiting years for justice, David Lammy has said as he prepares to face MPs over plans to drop thousands of jury trials.The justice secretary proposed last week to reduce the 78,000 outstanding cases in England and Wales by allowing jury trials only for serious crimes such as murder, rape and manslaughter. Continue reading…