Judge-only trials in England and Wales will not wipe out crown court backlog, report says

IFG says proposed plans, which will slash the number of jury trials, will produce marginal gains' of less than 2% time saved

David Lammy's plans to introduce judge-only criminal trials in England and Wales will save less than 2% of time in crown courts, the Institute for Government (IFG) has said.

In a report that casts doubt on the ability of the changes, which will slash the number of jury trials to achieve their goal of wiping out the courts' backlog, the thinktank described the gains from judge-only trials as marginal".