Defendants should be allowed to ask for jury-free trials, judge says

Defendants should be allowed to ask for a jury-free trial to reduce court backlogs, a top judge has said.

Sir Brian Leveson, who is heading up a review set up by the government, is to propose a 'once in a generation' reform to tackle record court backlogs that would see the UK follow the likes of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

He is to make the recommendation to tackle delays in the legal system, which has a current backlog of 75,000 cases, forcing victims to wait four to five years for justice in many cases.

Sir Brian told a conference: 'I can see the advantage in lots of cases. You will get a reasoned judgment [from a judge]. In front of a jury, you don't get a judgment at all, you get guilty or not guilty.

'The case will be undeniably speedier because the judge doesn't have to explain to the jury all the basic premises of the criminal law.'