December 22, 2025
Tim Kiely has written an opinion piece for Solicitors Journal examining the government’s proposal to restrict the right to trial by jury to cases likely to attract sentences of more than three years on conviction. Reflecting on the human impact of such reforms, he notes:
“Indeed, the prospect of being tried by a jury was one of the few aspects of their situation from which my Defendant drew some comfort… Nervous at the prospect of a trial as they were, it was made somewhat more bearable by the thought that they would face a tribunal of ordinary people very much like them, able to apply their common sense to the case before them.”
Read the full article here
Meanwhile Simon Spence KC emphasised the need for the government to lift the cap on Crown Court sitting days — a change that could immediately make more courtrooms operational. He also cautioned that “alienating the general public from the criminal justice system is a retrograde step.”
Listen from 02:09:26 to the interview on Talk Radio: https://talk.tv/play/talkradio/catchup/20251217-25391
