Trial and error?: The impact of restricting jury trials on court demand
Think tank: Institute for Government
Author(s): Cassia Rowland
January 21, 2026
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government examines the impact of restricting jury trials on court demand.
The government’s reforms – particularly judge-only trials – will unlock only relatively modest reductions in demand given the scale of institutional upheaval. It should focus instead on reversing productivity declines.
The Ministry of Justice estimates that if these reforms are enacted slightly less than half of trials that would currently be heard by a jury would instead be heard by magistrates (around a third) or a judge alone (around a sixth). All of the most serious ‘indictable only’ cases, such as robbery, rape and the most serious violent assaults, will continue to be eligible for a jury trial. Only moderately serious ‘either-way’ cases will be eligible to be heard in magistrates’ courts or by a judge alone: this covers a wide range of offences like fraud, serious theft, drug supply and most weapons offences.
The proposals would most likely reduce demand on the courts, particularly the crown court, where the case backlog and delays are most severe. But these would be relatively minor gains, given the institutional upheaval, political controversy and likely damage to public confidence from substantially reducing access to jury trials.
