Robert Jenrick accused the Government of not trusting “ordinary people” with law and order, amid reports it is considering restricting jury trials to rape, murder and manslaughter.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman pledged to do “whatever it takes to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial”, with the “most serious cases” continuing to have jury trials.
It comes after Justice Secretary David Lammy wrote in a memo to other ministers and senior civil servants this month, seen by The Times newspaper, there is “no right” to jury trials in the UK and the move would not compromise a suspect’s rights.
In the Commons, shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick criticised the potential plans, suggesting the Government has a “lawyers know best” attitude.
Sir Brian Leveson’s review of the courts system recommended juries be reserved to hear the most serious cases, with lower offences diverted to magistrates’ courts or to the proposed Crown Court Bench Division for trials to be heard by judges.
Ms Sackman said a response to the first part of Sir Brian’s review is coming “very soon”, adding: “No final decisions have been made on exactly how to take forward the blueprint.”
Responding to an urgent question, she told MPs: “Jury trials will always be a cornerstone of British justice.
“This Government will do whatever it takes to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial. The great British justice system, with all of its traditions, would never let victims wait, in some cases, four years for justice.
“There is, indeed, a clash of ideas between this side of the House and the Opposition. We are on the side of modernisation, of defending our values and of swifter justice for victims. Whilst they’re prepared to watch the system rot, not offering any answers.”
She added: “The vast majority of cases in our courts are already heard without juries. Around 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with robustly, fairly, by magistrates with no jury.”
Mr Jenrick hit out at Mr Lammy for not responding to the urgent question himself, saying: “Do we need to send out a search party to Savile Row in case he’s gone suit shopping again this morning?
“Or perhaps he couldn’t face up to the embarrassment that he is now destroying the very principles he once championed?”
He added: “The truth is the Labour Party just don’t think ordinary people are up to it. They don’t trust them with these decisions.
“Give away the Chagos islands, shackle us to the ECHR, scrap jury trials – all because lawyers know best.”
Ms Sackman replied: “He (Jenrick) claims to care about the rule of law. He claims to care about ancient legal traditions. This is the same shadow justice secretary that denigrates our independent judges, that denigrates our legal community standing up for rights.
“The right to a jury trial for our most serious cases will remain a fundamental part of our British legal tradition.”
Two Labour MPs raised concerns that restricting the use of jury trials could lead to more racial discrimination in the justice system.
Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) said: “The 2017 Lammy Review found jury trials to be the only part of the justice system consistently free from racial bias.”
She argued that restricting jury trials to only the most serious crimes “risks deepening disproportionality and undermining the confidence in the justice system”.
The Labour backbencher added that there is “no evidence” a Crown Court Bench Division would “actually work to address the backlog”.
Responding, the minister said: “Regardless of which options we take forward to tackle the crisis, that principle of equality before the law will run through them.”
Labour MP Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) asked: “Is the Government not concerned that the judiciary tends to be privately educated and white, and that’s very different to the composition of juries, therefore not representative of the modern day United Kingdom?”
Ms Sackman responded: “Our judiciary is one of the prides of this country – their independence, their integrity, is something that provides, I think, one of the pillars of rule of law in this country.”
She added that judges undergo “comprehensive judicial training”, including in racial bias.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who currently sits as an independent MP, said: “This is, I think, the third attempt by successive governments to try and reduce the right to trial by jury.
“It is a fundamental right in our system. It should not be undermined and it should not be undermined because the Government has a current and temporary, hopefully temporary, problem about capacity.”
He urged the Government to not to walk away from jury trials but to “invest more in the system”.
The minister responded that the Government is making “record investment” in sitting days, lawyers, legal aid and technology, but that “investment alone isn’t going to fix the problem”.
Justice committee chair Andy Slaughter said: “If the Lord Chancellor thinks he’d go beyond Brian Leveson’s proposals, he will need to produce some clear evidence as to why that is necessary and why that does not offend our system of justice, of which we are all still very proud.”
Conservative MP and Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh insisted that jury trials are the “greatest defence against totalitarianism” and that the Government “must never throw that away”.
Green Party former co-leader Sian Berry claimed the Government is “building a toolkit for authoritarians out of digital ID, police facial recognition and now cutting jury trials for apparently all charges that might be associated with dissent”, which she said is “incredibly dangerous and something that we wouldn’t expect from a Labour government”.
Responding, the minister said: “I utterly reject the suggestion that this is somehow an authoritarian gambit, far from it.
“I cannot think of anything more progressive than doing what it takes to salvage the British justice system and guarantee fair trial.”
