Monday Message 23.02.26
News Bulletin – 23rd February, 2026
In the Monday Message this week:
- Maya Chopra becomes CBA Assistant Secretary
- Jury Reforms update
- Retrospective changes – the CBA’s response
- Fees Update
- [Dis]Ability to the Bar (BDABar)
- Justice needs juries open letter to the PM
Maya Chopra elected as CBA Assistant Secretary
We are delighted to announce that Maya Chopra of Farringdon Chambers, London has been elected unopposed as the new Assistant Secretary of the Criminal Bar Association.
Maya will take office on 1st March 2026. At the same time, current Assistant Secretary Matilda Robinson-Murphy will take over as Secretary from Chloe Ashley following completion of her year of office.
By way of introduction, Maya writes:
“I am a criminal defence barrister of 12 years’ call. I was a vocal participant in the industrial action in 2022, and the significance of what we achieved, together, under the leadership of the CBA cannot be understated. I see my time in this role as an opportunity to give back to the organisation, and the profession as a whole. Whilst there is still much work to be done on the issue of remuneration, some of the biggest hurdles we face at present are markedly political. Whether it be the proposed abolition of jury trials for certain crimes, or the reluctance of successive regimes to properly fund the CJS, I hope to support the leadership in building and maintaining pressure on government. At the same time, I believe there is much to be achieved ourselves in the areas of wellbeing and equality and diversity. I know that the overwhelming majority of my colleagues at the criminal bar believe that there is no space for bigotry, discrimination or mistreatment in our profession and I am honoured to be able to support this important work over the next two years.”
Jury Trials update
We expect to see the First Reading of a new Bill very soon. The First Reading is the formal announcement of the government’s intention to introduce draft legislation, but the actual text of the Bill will be published some time later.
CBA officers have continued to engage with Parliamentarians, the Bar Council, JUSTICE and other interest groups over our opposition to the curtailment of jury trials. We are also pleased that more MPs have made arrangements to visit their local Crown Courts, obtaining information first-hand on what is taking place.
Counsel Magazine this month contains an article by former CBA Chair Chris Henley KC which argues for the importance of juries to the provision of criminal justice in our diverse, modern society and which sets out the principled objections to trial by judge alone. The article – “Trial by Jury or ‘the Wisdom of One’” – can be found here.
Chris Henley KC and CBA Vice Chair Andrew Thomas KC addressed a meeting of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association last week, alongside LCCSA President Jason Lartey, CLSA President Katy Hanson and Professor Rebecca Helm of the University of Exeter, who is a leading expert on jury research. The criminal law professional groups were united in their opposition to the MoJ proposals. A full report of the meeting appears in the Law Society Gazette here.
Retrospective application – the CBA’s response
On Tuesday 17th February 2026, Justice Minister Sarah Sackman MP wrote to the Justice Select Committee setting out her response to a number of queries which the JSC had raised. A copy of the Minister’s letter can be found here.
Amongst other matters, the letter confirms that the MoJ intends that the changes to the right to trial by jury will apply retrospectively to cases which are already listed for trial. The letter states:
“This will mean that cases which are past the point of initial mode of trial determination, but have not yet commenced trial, will be able to be changed from jury trial to trial by judge alone (either under the Crown Court Bench Division or on the grounds of technical complexity or length).”
This is contrary to what David Lammy MP told the committee in December, and also contrary to what Sarah Sackman herself told Sky News in January. The explanation given for this decision is this:
“Allowing pending cases to be tried by a judge alone will enable us to start tackling the open caseload as soon as the new legislation is enacted, delivering swifter justice for victims without compromising defendants’ rights or fairness. It will also avoid two different procedures running in parallel in the Crown Court as a result of arbitrary cut-off dates.”
Swifter justice? The MoJ’s proposal is completely untested and unsupported by modelling. The MoJ have published no evidence at all to show that curtailing the right to trial by jury will make an appreciable difference to the speed at which cases will be listed for trial.
The CBA has long argued that there are direct, practical measures which could take place immediately to dispose of cases which are in the backlog already (including those identified in Leveson Part 2). The controversial plan to curtail the right to trial by jury – which will face enormous opposition in Parliament – are an unnecessary distraction, diverting energy resources from where they are needed.
On the basis of the government’s own projections, we estimate that up to 30,000 cases will be affected by the decision to apply the changes retrospectively. This flies in the face of the legitimate expectation of those involved that their case will be tried by a jury. It is blatantly unfair. The cases affected will include those where a defendant positively elected trial by jury in the Magistrates Court.
This ill-conceived idea will mire the Crown Courts in satellite litigation for months or years to come.
Re-allocating a trial to a judge-only Court will necessarily be a judicial decision. This will result in many thousands of additional pre-trial hearings, where re-allocation is likely to be contested. In turn, those hearings are highly likely to result in multiple appeals, either to the Court of Appeal or the Divisional Court, with thousands of other cases then waiting on those appeals for guidance.
While the Courts try to resolve the inevitable mess, backlogs will increase, and the delays will get worse. There is no need to gamble on such uncertainty. The priority must be to focus on funding and implementing the efficiency recommendations contained in Leveson Part 2. That way, delays will come down while jury trials continue.
The argument that this avoids two systems running in parallel ignores the fact that trial by jury will remain for most indictable-only cases, as well as more serious either way charges. No thought is given to how this fundamental change will be rolled out: is it seriously suggested that this will happen without the need for judicial training, carefully drafted amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules, and changes to DCS?
Fees Update
We are continuing in our engagement with both the MoJ and CPS in respect of an increase to AGFS fees in the coming months. The government has already committed to provide an additional £34 million (comprising £28.3 million plus VAT) in respect of defence fees.
As the DPP outlined in his letter last week, the CPS also accepts the principle of enabling broad parity of prosecution fees with increases to defence fees.
[Dis]Ability to the Bar (BDABar)
The organisation is currently running the mock pupillage interview scheme, and as such, are looking for volunteers to assist with conducting the interviews.
The the link for volunteers to sign up is here. The form only takes a minute to complete!
Many disabled aspiring barristers need to practice their interview skills before embarking on the real thing.
and finally…
Justice needs juries open letter to the PM
We, together with the Bar Council and all Circuit Leaders are now seeking to communicate directly with the Prime Minister through an open letter.
We wish to reach as many legal professionals as possible, for signatures – barristers, solicitors, academics, and legal executives across all areas of law.
Please consider signing the letter yourselves, share through your networks and alert/encourage others to sign.
Access the Open letter here.
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