Monday Message 18.05.26

In this edition:

• Brief Update on Courts & Tribunals Bill
• Crown Court Constituency Day
• Parliament Day
• **Reminder – Upcoming Dates for MP Visits to Crown Courts
• Contempt Case
• **Reminder – The London Legal Walk – 9th of June 2026 – Join us!**

Please note – there will be no Bulletin next Monday as it is a Bank Holiday.

Brief Update on Courts & Tribunals Bill

Last week we had just had the results of the local elections. This week, we have had the King’s Speech. There is little more to say about either, other than that uncertainty as to what will happen next abounds.

Although there was no specific mention of jury reform in the King’s Speech, “significant reforms” were referred to in the list of Bills which the Government circulated on the Opening of Parliament.  It therefore seems the Government intends to press forward with plans to restrict the right to jury trial, and so the matter will proceed to its third reading, and we expect ultimately to the House of Lords. The Government appears to have re-named the Bill “The Courts Modernisation Bill” – on the printed copy of the speech at least, although these words did not make it into the spoken word.  Precisely what that re-branding achieves, other than being somewhat crass and misleading, is something of a mystery. Is the benign-sounding reference to “modernisation” a touch of political Newspeak? Otherwise, there was a reference to re-investment in the “renewal” of public services, but did they recall that WE are a public service?

Parliament has been in recess, and so we wait to see what will happen next. But as the Bill moves into this next stage, more than ever, the Government should have an eye to the real cost of their proposed changes to our criminal justice system – changes that are a distraction and deflection from the real issues, changes that will not reduce the backlog, will not ameliorate delays, and will not help either complainant victims, or the accused.

We know that the evidence is growing of backlogs coming down. Following the recent release of MoJ data, we can now add the Old Bailey to our ever-growing list of Crown Courts  -Snaresbrook, Chelmsford, Luton, Cambridge, Ipswich, Maidenhead, Canterbury, Liverpool, Preston, Teesside, Northampton, and more recently Lincoln and Derby, together with the whole of Wales – that have successfully used the increases to sitting days alongside their own initiatives to tackle problems internally.  Between March and December 2025, the backlog of cases at the Old Bailey fell by nearly 25%. As at the year end, it had 616 open cases, the lowest it has been in 5 years and down from a highpoint of more than 1,000 cases at the start of 2024.

Today 70 recorders are sitting across the Crown Court estate, mirroring a positive pattern of increased productivity that has emerged over the past few months. This is double the number that on average were sitting each week from the end of 2024 to the middle of 2025 – when the combined effect of cuts and caps to both sitting days and the recorder budget were at their lowest, with the obvious knock-on effect for the backlog.

We know that the initiatives of our Resident Judges, combined with the dedication and hard work of the criminal bar are working.

Modernisation? What exactly does that mean in the context of this Bill? Because we are all for modernisation. We have been calling for it for years: to our court buildings, lifts, lavatories, plumbing, electrics, heating and air conditioning; to our technical equipment, our video replay and TV link systems, our digital storage systems, our prison delivery services, the conference rooms and cells within the court buildings.

For the criminal justice system to continue to function, those are the things that need to be addressed urgently. Not this costly, time-wasting re-structuring of the jury system that will take years to be applied and come into effect, and that has universal opposition from the legal profession.

We will not stop in our Justice Needs Juries campaign. Efficiency, Fairness and Justice for all are the fundamental focus of the criminal bar.   We are not against Modernisation. But we are against measures that will dumb down our excellent system, and lead to injustice, both for those accused, and those who are the victims of crime.

Crown Court Constituency Day

There will be another Crown Court Constituency Day on 22nd May. We ask you again to write to your MP, and to invite them to attend your local Crown Court so that they can see for themselves how the Courts are functioning, and where the problems lie.

Parliament Day

To keep pressing our message forward, the Bar Council are organising an event where the CBA, Circuit and Bar Council Leaders will be meeting and addressing MP’s, Ministers and Parliamentarians from across the House.

We hope to engage with those who have voted in favour of the Bill, those who have avoided using their Parliamentary vote but who we hope now may have the courage to follow their convictions and agree that the jury proposals are both unworkable and unfair, and with representatives from victims’ organisations, to present our arguments to them. We will update you as to arrangements and plans in the coming weeks.

** REMINDER – MP Visits to Crown Courts **

Last Friday (15th of May) Sian Berry MP visited Hove Crown Court to meet with Alan Gardner KC of 23 Essex Street, and other members of the bar.  These recent MP visits have been extremely successful. Please do seek out and engage with MPs at these courts on the dates below.

Upcoming dates are as follows:  

• 20th May, 12:45-14:00 – Liverpool Crown Court – Northern Circuit – Samantha Hillas KC
• 22nd May, 12.45-14:00 – Northampton Crown Court – Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC;
• 12th June, 12:45-14:00 – Nottingham Crown Court – Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC;
• 26th June, 12.45-14:00 – Northampton Crown Court – Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC;
• Date TBC – Birmingham Crown Court – Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC.

Please contact your Circuit Leaders if you would like more details.

Contempt Case

Last week we commented on the high-profile contempt of court proceedings which have been a focus of interest and concern for the criminal bar, and on Wednesday we sent a message to members about the case. We are not going to repeat that here, other than to say we welcome the decision and the clarity that it brings to the profession as to process and procedure.

Although this stage of the proceedings has concluded, all parties now wait to see whether any further action will be taken. In those circumstances, we do not propose to make any additional comment on the specifics of that case at this stage.

However, in the past week we have been contacted by barristers not involved in the trial who have made observations on both sides of the argument. These have given rise to three matters that are worth mentioning, by way of general guidance.

First – Please be wary of speculating about the underlying issues in this case. The Court of Appeal’s decision relates to the important issue of procedure only. The underlying allegations are yet to be determined, and there will be a great deal here about which we simply don’t have all the details. As barristers we know only too well the importance of not pre-judging a case on the basis of what is written in the press or on social media. Reputations are potentially at stake, and no one would wish to make things harder for anyone involved in that case, on either side.

Second – as a general point, we at the CBA recognise that in any case there can be disagreement about decisions that are taken, and how difficult issues are handled by opponents and others. What is important is to remember that regardless of what side we are on, or what personal views we hold, we are all professionals and all are trying to do our jobs as best we can. We owe it to our clients, our colleagues, our judges and to our profession to treat each other with courtesy, kindness, and respect, regardless of the circumstances, and regardless of our disagreements. None of it is, or should, become personal.  All who read this will remember the guidance given by Lord Thomas CJ in Ekaireb [2015] EWCA Crim 1936 about personal criticisms of opposing counsel in speeches. We suggest that we should strive to apply those principles to all our interactions, with opponents and others, both within court and without.  Our jobs are much easier when we do.

Third – it is always worth reminding oneself of the extensive guidance around closing speeches, which is set out in Blackstone’s at D18.15, and Archbold at 4-419 to 4-429.

Magistrates’ Court Survey

Charlotte Walker, Lecturer in Social Sciences at York St John University, is conducting a study with Dr Sam Fairclough (the University of Birmingham) and Dr Lucy Welsh (the University of Sussex).

The study focuses on vulnerability and special measures in the magistrates’ courts, and they have asked for the views of the criminal bar. They plan to use the responses to support a funding application to conduct a bigger empirical study exploring the experiences of vulnerable people in the magistrates’ courts.

The survey should take around 15 minutes to complete and can be found here.

New Resident Judges

We are delighted to welcome our new Resident Judges:

• Lewes Crown Court – HHJ Christine Henson KC
• Norwich CC- HHJ Catharine Moore
• Reading Crown Court – HHJ Nawaz
• Mold Crown Court – HHJ Simon Mills

Many congratulations! We look forward to working with you all in the future.

Yours,

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