Judge-only trials could increase security threat to judges, head of judiciary warns

"My responsibility is to make it as plain as I can that I have grave security concerns if there are going to be judge-alone trials. It's a very different environment to be working in, and judges usually sit in one main centre, so they are going in and out of one centre on a daily basis, rather than High Court judges who are sitting all around the country."

The UK's Lord Chancellor David Lammy proposes reforms to replace jury trials with judge-only hearings in cases where convicted defendants face up to three years imprisonment. These reforms aim to address record case backlogs in English and Welsh criminal courts, with some cases delayed until 2030. However, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr expressed grave security concerns about the proposal. She highlighted that judges working in concentrated court centers would face different security challenges compared to High Court judges dispersed across the country, as they would travel to and from the same location daily, potentially making them more vulnerable.

Read at www.independent.co.uk