Justice secretary David Lammy was a no-show at urgent questions in the House of Commons on Thursday, prompting Robert Jenrick to ask about his whereabouts as the justice minister took his place.
The questions stem from a leaked memo reported on Tuesday, in which Lammy proposed scrapping some jury trials to tackle the backlog of cases, and only allowing jury trials for murder, rape or manslaughter cases.
Lammy’s proposal was prompted by Sir Brian Leveson’s first version of his ‘once in a generation‘ review of the criminal justice system, which included controversial changes, such as removing juries from serious and complex fraud cases.
However, the leaked memo caused outrage in the legal sector, with many of the legal bodies saying the move “goes too far”.
On Thursday, at the House of Commons, the justice minister, Sarah Sackman, faced questions on the matter, telling MPs that the Labour government “inherited an emergency in our criminal courts”.
She stated that the government has “been carefully considering [Sir Leveson’s] recommendation and agrees that a crisis of this scale needs bold action to get the system moving and to deliver swifter justice for victims.”
As of June 2025, the criminal case backlog in the Crown Court for England and Wales reached a record high of almost 80,000 cases, while the backlog in the magistrates’ courts was 361,027 cases.
Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, did query why Lammy was not in attendance after being summoned to face questions over this leak.
“Do we need to send out a search party to Savile Row to see if he has gone suit shopping again this morning. Or perhaps he couldn’t face up to the embarrassment that he is now destroying the very principles he once championed,” he told the House.
Sackman hits back at Jenrick, saying he “claims he cares about the rule of law and ancient legal traditions…. This is the same shadow justice secretary who denigrates our independent judges and our legal system, standing up for the rights.”
The legal profession hit back at Jenrick last month over his public attack on immigration judges.
Only three per cent of cases currently face jury
Sackman said: “There is no one working in the legal system who doesn’t think the criminal justice system is broken”.
She told the House that no plans have been made to move on Sir Leveson’s blueprints yet, but, to put victims first, the government will implement the former judge’s plan.
She told MPs that justice delayed is justice not served, and noted major criminal cases, such as rape, are not getting court dates until 2029 or 2030, prompting victims to pull out.
Sachman, who was a public law barrister, told the House she agrees with just trials, stating “they will remain a cornerstone of British justice for the most serious crimes”.
“But we need an air of realism here, 90 per cent of cases are dealt fairly and robustly without a jury trial, that is the norm. We don’t have trials in our civil system; against that is the norm… only three per cent of cases are heard by a jury,” she explained.
At the end of the questioning, the Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, called on Sackman to launch an inquiry into how this memo got out.