Former justice secretary Jack Straw says right to choose jury trial lets defendants ‘game’ courts

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The government should scrap the right of defendants to choose trial by jury for some mid-range offences, former justice secretary Jack Straw has said. He branded laws allowing someone on trial to choose whether their case will go to a crown court a “ridiculous anomaly” which enabled defendants to “game” the system amid soaring court backlogs. open image in gallery Shabana Mahmood has commissioned a ‘once in a generation’ review of courts due to soaring backlogs He urged the current government to look at removing the right as Shabana Mahmood, the current justice secretary, considers measures including new intermediary courts to tackle soaring court backlogs. open image in gallery Jack Straw said the government should consider scrapping the right to jury trial for ‘either way’ offences His comments come after the government in December appointed Sir Brian Leveson, a senior retired judge, to lead a “once in a generation” review of the courts system in England and Wales to come up with proposals to cut delays.