Labour abandons most planned jury trial curbs
As the Conservatives’ Birmingham conference opens, shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy calls Labour’s decision a victory and says other measures still restrict access to juries.
Labour has abandoned most of its planned restrictions on jury trials, The Guardian reported on Sunday, as the Conservative Party conference began in Birmingham.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy called the decision “a major victory” for those who opposed the plans. He said Conservatives had led that opposition and that Labour had dropped its central proposal affecting jury trials in the Crown Court.
Timothy argued that the change did not go far enough. He said other measures still limit access to juries, including removing the right to elect a jury in some cases and sending those cases to magistrates.
The supplied report does not detail which planned restrictions Labour has abandoned or specify which measures remain. It also does not establish whether the changes have taken effect.
The decision became a focus of the day’s political news as Kemi Badenoch prepared to give her opening speech at the conference.
