Radio 5 Live interviews Professor Laura Hoyano

Professor Laura Hoyano addressed the debate around trial by jury in England and Wales in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live (28th Nov):

-She challenged Sarah Sackman MP (Minister of Courts) who had pointed to Canada as a model for judge‑alone trials. Professor Hoyano (herself Canadian, a dually qualified barrister in Canada and England & Wales and an expert in comparative criminal and evidence law) explained that this comparison is misleading. Section 11(f) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees defendants the right to a jury trial for serious offences (those carrying a maximum sentence of five years or more). She argued that defendants can elect a jury or a judge‑alone trial but it is their decision — for murder, the Crown must also agree, but it cannot refuse to consent if the defendant’s other Charter rights are affected, such as trial within a reasonable time.

-Judge‑only trials in Canada are not a replacement for juries, but simply an additional option for the defence. This is a cherished and long-standing right of the defence, which in practice expands the grounds for appeal from a judge-only verdict. The right is totally uncontroversial for the public, the Crown, the Bar and the judiciary.

-To present Canada as a template for jury reform where the defence would be forced into judge-alone trials is a misrepresentation that risks undermining centuries of common law protections in England and Wales.

-Professor Hoyano concluded that the real crisis in the justice system lay in chronic underfunding, lack of judicial availability, empty courts, delayed trials and barristers leaving the criminal bar due to a system starved of resources. The solution to reducing backlogs did not lie in withdrawing trial by jury but in proper investment with some less drastic structural reform.

Professor Laura Hoyano was called to the Alberta Bar, Canada in 1983 where she gained extensive trial and appellate advocacy experience contributing to numerous reported judgments. She subsequently established a distinguished academic career at the University of Oxford, where she now holds the title of Emeritus Professor of Law. She practises criminal and regulatory law and inquests in England.

Listen to the interview here below from 48:49