News Bulletin 19.01.26
Justice Select Committee
On Tuesday 14th January 2026, our Chair Riel Karmy-Jones KC gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee on a number of topics relating to the Government’s proposals, and the recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in his government commissioned Part 1 Review of the Criminal Courts. Riel appeared alongside Kirsty Brimelow KC (Chair of the Bar Council), Cassia Rowland (Institute for Government), and David Ford JP (Chair of the Magistrates’ Association).
The recording of the session can be found here. Parliamentlive.tv – Justice Committee
The transcript of the oral evidence is available here.
Riel and Kirsty argued strongly against the MoJ’s proposals to limit the right to trial by jury and set out the alternative measures which the government needs to take to bring down the backlog. Cassia Rowland provided powerful independent expert evidence on the real causes of delays in the criminal justice system. Her evidence was that curtailing the right to trial by jury would have minimal effect on the overall length of proceedings of cases in the Crown Court.
Shifting Sands
One of the most notable issues to emerge from that evidence session was the ever-shifting sands and lack of consistency in the Government’s stance on whether the Lammy / Leveson proposals will operate retrospectively. Ministers have been asked the question three times in the past 6 weeks, and answered it differently every time.
To summarise:
- 6th December 2025
The Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy MP, gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee and was asked directly “will these reforms apply retrospectively”. His response was unequivocal: “No.”
- 13th January 2026
Last week, in an interview with Sky News conducted on the 13th of January, reported on 15th January, the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman MP flatly contradicted that clear position. She said:
“In terms of the measures themselves, while cases that already have a trial date set for a jury or are already in train, of course those will have to proceed. But cases that are already in the system where a trial date hasn’t been set, these measures will apply to those because what you want is those measures to kick in straight away so they can start to bring down the backlog.”
- 14th January 2026
On 14th January 2026 Sarah Sackman MP gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee after Riel and Kirsty. Then she stated that the proposed measures will have retrospective effect unless a trial date had already started on the commencement date. The Justice Minister said that Judges would be able to “look again” at other cases which were already in the system to decide whether they would be allowed to be tried with a jury.
The three video clips can be seen here.
Taken together, these statements represent a further shift in the Government’s position, which begs the question whether they know what they are doing and why. The statements follow on from the earlier change in position as to whether the proposed reforms are intended primarily to address the court backlog, and to assist victims of crime, or whether they are ideological, as stated by Sarah Sackman MP during the parliamentary debate on Wednesday 7th January 2026, when as the Justice Minister she stood in for the Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy to represent the Government.
The debate can be watched here.
Doubling Down
In that same Sky interview on the 13th of January (see above) Justice Minister Sarah Sackman MP rejected reports that the Government might move away from judge-only trials and return to the Leveson model of one judge and two magistrates, stating:
“No… we think the judge-only proposal is robust. It’s what they do in Canada. I’ve got confidence in our judges to be able to run these cases. This is our plan, we believe in our plans, and this is a positive proposal of something we think can work.”
As we have noted before, the Canadian system differs in important respects. In particular:
- In Canada, there remains a right to elect trial by jury for offences carrying a sentence of two years or more; and
- there are no lay magistrates in Canada, they having been abolished due to a lack of public confidence in the 1980s.
The full Sky News report, which includes strong criticism from Karl Turner MP, HHJ Chris Kinch and Simon Spence KC, is available here.
Upcoming Justice Needs Juries Events
Tuesday 20th January – MP and Peers drop-in session in Parliament. Over 280 cross-party MPs and Peers have been invited to meet the CBA Chair and Vice-Chair, the Chair of the Bar Council, and Circuit Leaders.
Friday 30th January – Constituency Court Day. In conjunction with the Circuit Leaders, a number of court centres have been selected for a day of observation, education and discussion (this is not intended as a day of ‘action’). The Bar Council has identified and invited MPs closest to each court.
If you’d like to invite your local MP then please contact [email protected] and let them know your address. They will assist by making sure that the MP has been contacted and invited them to the nearest court offering the day. If this court centre is too far, they will suggest another date for arranging a visit to a court closer to their constituency. If you wish to personally extend an invitation to your MP to visit one of these courts, we attach a template letter for you to use if you wish here.
The relevant court centres are:
- Midland Circuit: Birmingham, Nottingham
- North Eastern Circuit: Sheffield, Leeds
- Northern Circuit: Liverpool, Chester
- South Eastern Circuit: Maidstone, Inner London, Isleworth
- Western Circuit: Bristol and Winchester
- Wales and Chester: Cardiff and Swansea
Tuesday 3rd February – Parliamentary lobby day, 7.00pm–9.00pm. Further details to follow.
REMINDER – Write to Your MP
Writing to your MP remains one of the most effective ways for those who practise within, and best understand, the criminal justice system to make their voices heard.
At last count, only about 260 members have written to their MPs. If you may have forgotten to copy in the CBA and Bar Council email addresses please forward your correspondence to [email protected], and [email protected], or email to confirm that you have written. This allows us to quantify numbers for use in our future representations.
For any new letter, the following resources are available:
- You can find out who your MP is, and how to contact them by email via Find your MP – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament
- The Template letter which you can adapt to suit your personal circumstances and experiences can be found here.
- The Briefing Note which you may wish to send with your letter can be found here.
PLEASE do CC in both
so that we can continue to collectively monitor numbers.
Navjot (Jo) Sidhu
On 19th March 2025, the former Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Navjot (“Jo”) Sidhu, was disbarred by a disciplinary tribunal of the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (‘BTAS’) after being found guilty of sexual misconduct. Last week, on 13th January 2026, the High Court upheld that decision and the findings of BTAS, concluding that Mr Sidhu’s conduct towards a young woman who was shadowing him as a mini-pupil, and while he was acting in a senior professional role, was inappropriate and “particularly serious.” In giving judgment, Mr Justice Choudhury said:
“The misconduct in this case did not result from an unwise, spontaneous and consensual sexual encounter in a hotel. This was misconduct that involved a senior Silk and prominent member of the Bar using his position effectively to pressurise a young female mini-pupil into a compromising situation in order to gratify his own sexual desires. The Tribunal was entitled, as a specialist panel of the professional regulator, to view such conduct as particularly serious and not adequately addressed by anything less than the indicative sanction of disbarment.”
The CBA fully supports these findings. We condemn harassment, sexual harassment and bullying in all their forms. Such behaviour has no place in our profession or in any of our workplaces. We support the robust action taken by the Bar Standards Board and BTAS in relation to this case. Further, we support the recommendations of the Harman Review, which has provided important insight into unacceptable conduct that was too often overlooked in the past. Our thoughts are with the victims of such behaviour, and we acknowledge and commend the courage of those who have spoken out.
We remind all barristers of their duties to report misconduct. If anyone reading this has been affected by this type of behaviour, please do report to Talk to Spot here About Spot – Spot, the BSB, or others in authority.
His Honour Judge Nicholas (Nick) Wood
It is with immense sadness that we learned on Friday of the sudden and unexpected death of His Honour Judge Nicholas Wood (“Nick”). Nick was a wonderful supporter of the Bar and a former Secretary of the CBA. He was a kind, patient, deeply thoughtful and caring man who, as Bruce Houlder KC has commented “was the perfect personality for the judicial role, and his sensitivity shone whenever he spoke”. He was much loved and admired at Isleworth Crown Court and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and all those closest to him at this most difficult time.
This morning members of the Bar, judges and staff at Isleworth Crown Court gathered in Court 7 for a tribute to HHJ Wood. We will ask HHJ Edmunds for a transcript of his words in remembrance, so that we may share them for those who were unable to attend.
Assistant Secretary of the CBA
Nominations are invited for the position of Assistant Secretary of the Criminal Bar Association.
Candidates must be members of the CBA and be proposed and seconded, in writing or by email, by CBA members. An expression of interest, together with the names of the proposer and seconder, should be submitted to the CBA Administrator, by 16.00 on Wednesday 4th February 2026.
If more than one valid nomination is received, a combined electronic and postal ballot of the membership will be held.
Please note that this is a two-year commitment. The successful candidate will serve as Assistant Secretary until 28th February 2027 and will then assume the role of Secretary from 1st March 2027 to 28th February 2028.
The role of Assistant Secretary is varied and significant. The role is to provide assistance to the Secretary and other officers of the CBA in responding to the ever-changing landscape of the criminal justice system, representing the views of the membership and aiming to improve conditions for criminal barristers. Responsibilities include attending meetings (both online and in person) with the CBA Officers and the Executive Committee, assisting in drafting key communications and documents for the membership, and liaising with government, charities and other organisations.
This role is best suited to someone able to attend events in London, sometimes at short notice, and who is willing to take part in media interviews including possibly television and radio appearances.
As an example of this, please see the excellent interview given by our Assistant Secretary Matilda Robinson-Murphy in the Canary last week here.👏
Congratulations
The CBA extend congratulations to Barnaby Jamieson KC of Red Lion Chambers and Richard Wright KC of Park Square on their recent appointments.
Barnaby has been appointed as new Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP) at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cayman Islands. In this senior leadership role, Barnaby will support the DPP in the conduct of serious criminal prosecutions under the Cayman Islands Constitution, provide strategic legal counsel, and lead the prosecution of complex and serious offences before both the Grand Court and the Court of Appeal.
Richard has been appointed the next Chief Justice of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a role that will run alongside his practice at the Bar. In the press release from the St Helena Government Richard said:
“I am very pleased to have been appointed as the next Chief Justice of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and it will be a privilege to serve you in this important role delivering the efficient administration of Justice in the wider public interest. I look forward to visiting in person as soon as I am able, and on a regular basis thereafter. I know I will be well supported in the discharge of my responsibilities by the Chief Magistrate and all of those who work in the administration of Justice.”
Riel Karmy-Jones KC
Chair