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Hello there, I'm Alicia McCarthy. Thanks for downloading the yesterday in Parliament podcast.

On Tuesday the 10th of March, the Justice Secretary's controversial plans for court reform

passed their first hurdle. The government wants to limit access to jury trial in some cases

in England and Wales in an attempt to tackle the growing backlog of cases waiting to go to trial.

The Conservative, Sir Geoffrey Cox, has been a criminal barrister for well over 40 years. Pacing the

Tory benches and addressing MPs, he set out the case against

the government's plan to curb access to jury trial in some cases in England and Wales.

Jury trial is precious. Why is it precious? It is precious because it unites all parts of the

political spectrum. It is precious because it allows

the people of this country to be directly engaged in the adjudication of guilt or innocence.

Natalie Fleet is a Labour MP. As a teenager, she became pregnant after being groomed and raped.

For too long, society has told women that it is their fault, that they have been raped.

That nobody will believe them if they do report, so five out of six of them don't.

And if they do go to trial, they will face years of ret traumatisation, which is why 60% drop out. I can tell you, from personal

experience, you know what's worse than being raped? Facing years of waiting to see if people

believe you. She was throwing her weight behind the courts and tribunals bill,

the most controversial part of which would replace juries in England and Wales

with a single judge in cases where a convicted defendant could be jailed for up to three years.

Magistrate's powers will also be increased so they can hand down sentences of up to

18 months imprisonment. The government says the changes will help tackle the backlog of 80,000 cases,

which means many people wait years for their day in court. The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice

...