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Judge-only trials without juries should be considered only “in extremis” and parliament should “take a deep breath” before making such radical changes, the Lord Chief Justice has urged.
Giving evidence to the Lords constitution committee, Lord Burnett of Maldon indicated that if the pandemic continued for a long time and there were insurmountable physical distancing problems his preferred solution would be to reduce the jury size from 12 to seven. He told peers:
Trial by judge alone has been mentioned and had the support of some very senior members of the legal profession and former judges. I would see [that] as an option only in extremis.
The reasons we have jurors in criminal cases in England Wales is that an important aspect of it is to ensure public confidence [in trials] and to have public engagement in the administration of justice.
The education secretary Gavin Williamson said all teachers and school pupils will be able to be tested for Covid-19 if they develop symptoms when they return to schools.
Answering an urgent Commons question from the Liberal Democrat’s education spokeswoman Layla Moran, Williamson said:
On Monday my department published initial guidance for settings on how to begin to prepare and we’ll work with the sector leaders to develop this further in the coming weeks.
This guidance sets out protective measures to minimise the risk of infection, including restricting class sizes and limiting mixing between groups.
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