23 June 2021
Lord Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice, has suggested smaller juries could be used for ‘some of the low-grade cases that go to the Crown Court’ as a temporary measure to reduce the backlog of cases, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph
In an interview with the newspaper, Lord Burnett is reported as saying ‘an opportunity was missed’ at the start of the pandemic to temporarily reduce jury sizes.
The Bar Council has consistently opposed any reduction in jury size, claiming this could dent public confidence in the justice system.
