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RELATED (BBC): Justice secretary wants jury trials scrapped except in most serious cases
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US warns Lammy's plans will see more jailed: 'absurd censorship laws'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...-laws.html

INTRO: The backlash against David Lammy's 'stark raving barmy' court reforms grew on Thursday night as a Trump administration official warned the plans will be used to jail more people for online posts.

An ally of the US President said that removing the right to a jury trial is 'misguided' and will see more people jailed for breaching the UK's 'absurd censorship laws'. Sarah Rogers also suggested that Labour's proposals would not go down well in Washington as the right to jury trials and other 'foundational freedoms' are shared between Britain and the US.

Trump's Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy told GB news: 'One reason for the outcry at that jury trial removal is that you won't have access to jury nullification of your absurd censorship laws. This means a jury seeing how the law applies, seeing that the defendant is guilty, and voting to acquit him anyways, because the law is senseless. When you have to rely on that safety valve, it means the law is misguided.'

The Justice Secretary's plans to abandon 800 years of tradition and scrap the right to a jury trial in many cases was also facing mounting opposition from within Labour as an MP said he and 'many more' backbenchers would vote against the proposals.

Former barrister Karl Turner said Mr Lammy - who he described as a friend - has 'got it incredibly badly wrong' and that arguments for axing juries are 'fundamentally dishonest'... (MORE - details)

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More Orwellian news from the UK.

Barristers to strike against Lammy's plans to slash jury trials
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...rials.html

INTRO: Criminal barristers are plotting to go on strike over David Lammy’s plan to slash jury trials. Parts of the profession want to ‘bring the courts to their knees’ in order to ‘destroy’ Labour’s reforms, legal insiders revealed.

It could see prosecutors decline work from the Crown Prosecution Service for the first time, leading to a ‘total meltdown’ of the system. The Justice Secretary last week outlined plans to halve jury trials from the current 15,000 a year in a bid to tackle the courts backlog.

One barrister said: ‘We will fight this. It’s not going to end well for David Lammy. The courts will be brought to their knees by the kind of action people are talking about... people want to see this destroyed.’

Another said: ‘We could have a scenario where senior silks who’ve been instructed to prosecute a case by the CPS just fail to turn up, simply to make a point.’ The source added lawyers are worried their livelihoods would ‘evaporate overnight’ if the proposals go ahead.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) last staged industrial action in 2022 in a row over fees. It rumbled on for six months, including a full strike lasting four months, with the case backlog soaring by 5,000 as courts ground to a halt.

Another strike now could force Mr Lammy to drop his plan before it even reaches Parliament. CBA boss Riel Karmy-Jones KC said the crisis could be eased by less drastic reforms, such as re-categorising cases that go to jury trial... (MORE - details)