The decision to scrap jury trials for crimes that carry a sentence of less than three years in England and Wales has been criticised by a legal expert.
The decision was made to help fight against backlogs in court cases however Dr Hannah Quirk, a reader in criminal law at Kings College London, said this is not the right way to deal with the crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said in the House of Commons last week the reforms would see cases dealt with five times faster than jury trials.
Quirk said research shows that ethnic minorities believe they get a fairer trial before a jury and Lammy had said previously that cutting juries would be a mistake.
She said: “David Lammy did a review when he was in opposition and found one of the areas that increase confidence of black defendants was a jury system because you’ve got twelve people so it can look more representative.”
The reforms will give magistrates courts the power to hear cases with a maximum sentence of eighteen months, as currently magistrates can only pass a sentence of twelve months or an unlimited fine.
Quirk added: “If you look at most cases in crown court there is a huge number of sex offences and in big cities there is a disproportionate number of young black males being tried.
“So these are groups that may feel problems with the criminal justice system anyway, and if they’re being told that they are only being tried by a judge because its cheaper and more efficient.
“That’s the other problem as people will be saying ‘if I was tried six months ago I would have been tried under a different system.’ There will be a sense of people getting a cheapskate version of justice.”
The aim of the judicial reform is to combat the backlog of court cases which has become uncontrollable.
Quirk said: “The backlog is horrendous and completely out of control, and if you were charged with an offence today, your trial may not be heard until 2029 or 2030.”
However, Quirk said that the real solution is not judicial reform.
“The real cause requires investment and that’s not a party point as the Conservatives did the same thing,” she said.
“But there has to be investment in criminal justice because its falling apart and most people don’t notice, they think it wont affect that, it matters to all of us.”
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