Times letters: Loss of the automatic right to a jury trial

Sir, In the 60 years since I started in the law there has never been a shortage of judges who wanted to abolish trial by jury and do the cases themselves. In the past ten years jury trials in defamation cases have disappeared, and in civil cases against the police, judicial discretion and procedural rules have resulted in judge-only trials. If, as the late Gary Slapper said, “jury trials are the linchpin of democracy”, we don’t want the wheels to fall off altogether by introducing trial by judge and two lay magistrates, who are likely to be compliant wingmen. Further erosion of trial by jury in criminal cases must be resisted. Much time could be saved in criminal trials if prosecution opening speeches were abolished and the charges simply read to the jury and the evidence called. It would require no change in the law and could be implemented immediately.
Ronald Thwaites KC
Esher, Surrey

Sir, Having an intermediate court with a judge and two magistrates instead of a jury of 12 is not a solution to the crown court backlog. The backlog includes as its causes the failure to bring prisoners to court on time, the absence of an available judge, counsel or interpreter, and courtrooms unfit to be used. The suggestion of The Times Crime and Justice Commission will do nothing to deal with those problems. The backlog is being exacerbated by the government’s refusal to allow existing crown courts to sit to anything like their full capacity. An intermediate court is merely cost-saving, and risks the public’s further alienation from the criminal justice system.
Robert Rhodes KC
Outer Temple Chambers, London WC2

Sir, Again we are faced with an attack on the jury system for purely economic reasons and the drive for efficiency. The jury system works well and has the support of the people. A survey years ago of young people who had served on a jury produced the unanimous view that if charged with an offence to be dealt with at the crown court they would choose trial by jury. The proposed intermediate court of a judge and two magistrates would do little to address the problems you highlight in your leading article: the shortage of lawyers, availability of judges, failure of the Prison Service to produce prisoners at court, and witnesses simply not turning up.

The risk in introducing non-jury trials in the crown court would be that confidence in — and respect for — the court process would be further damaged, with no discernable beneficial result.
Peter Stubbs
Bakewell, Derbyshire

Crusading vision

Sir, I am mystified by the claim made by Libby Purves that Christendom came close to pursuing the idea of a caliphate during the Crusades (“Holy Week reflections on Christian bigotry”, Apr 14). First, the idea of a caliphate is, of course, intrinsically Islamic and reflects a relationship between secular and religious authority that rarely, if ever, existed in Christianity. Second, the famous address by Urban II at Clermont in 1095, which launched the crusading movement, was delivered in response to an appeal for help from the then Byzantine emperor, Alexios Komnenos. He sought to remedy the suffering of Christians and the desecration of their holy sites under the Fatimid Caliphate: it was not about establishing a theocracy. Third, even at the height of papal claims to supreme authority — notably under Innocent III — popes were never able to sustain their claims for long against the power of secular rulers. The Emperor Henry IV may have stood barefoot in the snow at Canossa for three days. But the Pope who excommunicated him, Gregory VII, died in exile at Salerno.
Sir John Jenkins
Matfield, Kent

Plight of UK steel

Sir, You report (news, Apr 14) that the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China believes British Steel at Scunthorpe must be the “canary in the coal mine”. Unfortunately we have chosen to close our coal mines much as, in 1980, we closed our remaining ironstone mines to rely upon imports. We now have no control of the main raw materials for iron and steel making. We are, and apparently intend to remain, at risk of supply chains that are only as strong as their weakest links.
Dr Chris Down
Rugby

Assume nothing

Sir, It is an indication of how far we have come to kowtow to the United States that all journalists, even Matthew Parris it seems, now use the expression “kicking ass” rather than the English spelling of “arse” (“Starmer should be kicking ass, not kissing it”, Apr 14). Not that it is a particularly British custom, but one, I suspect, that we have inherited from the rather more bullying management methods adopted elsewhere. Even so, isn’t it time that we insisted on using our own spelling of the Anglo-Saxon word?
Robert Coate
Salisbury

Consequences of trading with China

Sir, Fraser Nelson (“Europe may be looking to China — Britain shouldn’t”, comment, Apr 12) claims that “any country that welcomes the Dalai Lama sees its exports to China fall soon after”. David Cameron met the Dalai Lama in 2012: that year and the next UK exports to China continued to increase. They fell during the so-called “golden era” — 2016 and 2017 exports were lower than 2015. They hit record levels in 2022 and 2023, when political relations were rock-bottom. The same is true of every other country that China has (for various reasons) consigned to the diplomatic doghouse. The exception is Norway, whose fish sales to China fell during its six years of “punishment”. But its global exports continued to rise, and they entered China via Hong Kong and Vietnam. Fish is fungible.

The political lesson is that policy towards China can be made without fear that exports — and investment — will be hit.
Charles Parton
Adviser, Council on Geostrategy

Political illiteracy

Sir, The suggestion that the government is proposing to give those aged 16 and 17 the vote because younger people vote Labour is a little wide of the mark (letters, Apr 11, 12 & 14). As the polling guru professor Sir John Curtice has pointed out, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats — and for some young men, Reform UK — are the likely beneficiaries of widening the franchise. Moreover, young people are just as likely as older people not to vote at all.

However, the central issue that the curriculum and assessment review, and therefore the Department for Education, must address is the widespread political illiteracy in the UK. Reinforcing and substantially improving the teaching of citizenship is a prerequisite to encouraging young people not only to vote but to be able to handle the divisive nature of global politics, the dangers arising from propaganda on social media and the distinguishing of truth from downright lies.
Lord Blunkett
Former Labour education secretary and home secretary

Electric car targets

Sir, It’s a bit rich for the UK head of Polestar to criticise the government for not incentivising the purchase of electric cars (“Electric car boss attacks decision to ease targets”, Apr 14). If his company made cars that had a reasonable range, could be fully charged in 15 minutes and did not cost substantially more than conventional cars, more people might buy them.
Gary Rawlinson
Burbage, Wilts

Benny Hill’s appeal

Sir, The three Gen Z-ers were appalled by Benny Hill pretending to be Chinese, blackface sketches and women showing their suspenders (“What happens when Gen Z watch Benny?”, TV review, Apr 14) yet seemed to think it hilarious when he cracked an egg over the head of a hapless old bald bloke. So in the 21st century it would appear OK to laugh at old bald white men (like me) but not at women or black and Asian people.
Malcolm Tattersall
Ampthill, Beds

Record wildfires

Sir, Given that we are heading for our worst year for wildfires it is shocking that government policies are making things more dangerous by letting too much vegetation build up, which fuels fires. Since 2021 Natural England has restricted traditional ways of managing this, such as winter burning and mowing, reducing these practices by 73 per cent. It has also discouraged sheep grazing. As a result, the number of sheep has dropped by 7 per cent in two years, leaving an extra 600,000 tonnes of dry vegetation each year as wildfire fuel. A study for the Peak District National Park found that stopping traditional land management has let vegetation grow so much that, once alight, it is now almost impossible to control. The National Fire Chiefs Council is urging the government to step in with a strategic plan. We should not have to wait for the first deaths before the government shows leadership on wildfires.
Andrew Gilruth
Chief executive, Moorland Association

Child-free life

Sir, Jennifer George’s itemisation of the reasons she doesn’t want children (“I’m 39 and no, I don’t want kids. Deal with it”, Apr 14) was so exhaustive and well-argued it reminded me of a line from Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Simon Collins
Sydney, New South Wales

Midsomer madness

Sir, It is good to know that the 100 per cent success rate for solving murders in Midsomer Murders is close to the figure the police achieve in reality (“Big hitters behind Midsomer success”, Apr 14). Sadly one assumes that the producers could never propose a spin-off series called Midsomer Shoplifting as it would stretch the suspension of disbelief too far.
Brian Eastty
Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex

Cursed by fame

Sir, Unlike Will Gove or Sophia Money-Coutts, my name is not an indication of political leanings or social status (“The curse of a famous surname: I understand Will Gove’s dilemma”, Apr 14). It is, though, unforgettable, once people have learnt how to spell it. Variations range from “Ph” and “F” to “ey” and “y”. My favourite was “Fizzy”. It is surprising how many people pronounce Ph as P, though they have no difficulty with elephant or telephone.
Sue Pheasey
Amberley, W Sussex

Master class

Sir, Is there a greater gentleman in golf than Justin Rose? What extraordinary decorum and class he showed on the 18th green as Rory McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam; noting that this was the second occasion upon which Rose has lost a playoff in the Masters. His warm embrace of his Ryder Cup colleague was truly heartwarming in an oft-fractious golfing community: truly a Rose among thorns.
The Rev Dr Che Seabourne
West Bridgford, Notts

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