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wo of the UK’s largest Black civic organisations have issued a stark warning that the Government’s plan to retroactively impose judge‑only trials represents a “grave threat” to fairness and public trust in the justice system.
Operation Black Vote (OBV) and Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC UK) say the proposal would allow cases already in the system — cases that began under the long‑standing guarantee of a jury, to be diverted mid‑process into judge‑only hearings, overturning the expectations on which defendants and victims entered proceedings.
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In a joint statement, the groups said the move risks destabilising the basic constitutional protections that underpin criminal justice, particularly for Black and racialised communities who already face disproportionate charging, remand and sentencing outcomes. They warn that changing the ground rules after proceedings have begun “pulls the rug from under” those who rely on the system to act predictably and fairly.
OBV Chair David Weaver said the retrospective removal of juries “strikes at one of the last democratic safeguards against state power”, arguing that the shift signals that core protections are now conditional. BARAC UK co‑founder Zita Holbourne said judge‑only trials risk deepening discrimination because they remove the community balance that juries provide. “Judges operate within institutional cultures shaped by police and prosecution narratives,” she said. “Juries bring lived experience and independence.”
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The warning lands against the backdrop of a constitutional principle stretching back eight centuries: the right to trial by one’s peers, enshrined in the Magna Carta, a protection long understood as a barrier against arbitrary state power. OBV and BARAC argue that any attempt to disapply that safeguard retrospectively is not merely a procedural shift but a direct challenge to the foundations of English justice.
The Criminal Bar Association’s Chair, Riel Karmy‑Jones KC, echoed the concerns, warning that many defendants and victims will feel “betrayed” and that confidence in the justice system will be further eroded at a moment when trust is already fragile.
The right to jury trial, a pillar of commonal law principles which streaches right across the Commonwealth has come under increasing threat in recent years. In 2024 The Parliament of Saint Kitts and Nevis introduced The Judge Alone Act 2024 to remove jury trials in favour of judge alone tirals. The Attorney General framed the move as, necessary in a nation of under 60,00 people — jury selection has become challenging and biased.
OBV and BARAC say the retrospective element is not a technical adjustment but a direct threat to procedural fairness, disproportionately affecting communities already over‑represented at every stage of the criminal justice pipeline. They are calling on the Government to abandon any retrospective application of judge‑only trials and to engage directly with those most affected by criminal justice reform.
An online petition seeking to curb the government's ambtions to abolish jury trials has ammased nearly 70,000 signatures.
