Jury Trials to Be Scrapped for Most Cases

Adumass said:
I'm uncomfortable about this proposal, but having completed jury service only 6 weeks ago I can say with certainty that the current system is a massive black hole of public money.

40 of us turn up on a Monday. Travel expenses, food expenses, loss of earnings (depending on your employers policy). Working hours way below the 'normal'.
I got selected on Monday afternoon to hear a case. It concluded late on the Friday, and I'd estimate we only spent 5 hours actually in the court room hearing the case. The rest of the time was endless delays and waiting around - some times the delays were explained to us (e.g. judge is busy this afternoon), some without explanation. It was a very frustrating experience. The following Monday a fresh 40 people arrive, for it all to be repeated. The case we heard was pretty low level, found guilty, slap on the wrist sentence. Honestly it felt like a complete waste of everyone's time.

If it is similar at every crown court across the country, the cost must be extraordinary. And that's only for the jurors. Never mind the barristers, clerks, witness costs (police waiting around for hours), all the support staff etc etc. So from a financial point of view I can see value in the proposal.
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I understand your point but we need to solve the problems of waste, inefficiency and indifference before we throw baby out with the bath water.
 
David Lammy, as UK Foreign Secretary, unoffical Ambassador for KFC and soon to have a heart attack oversaw the removal of a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II from a Foreign Office room, replacing it with pan-African flags. This change was reported in late November 2025 and has drawn criticism from some quarters for perceived disrespect to the monarchy and the Country. But he did show his true loyalties
 
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