King’s Speech

Baroness Kennedy of Shaws Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

My Lords, I add my voice in expressing my gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy. The noble Lord gave us a great reminder of the bizarre ways in which our constitution has come into being by historically adding lots of small entities and having norms and customs. He reminded us that unpicking the glue of something can actually be hugely damaging to the relationships of what make nationhood, and his wisdom should be remembered for all time.

I want to talk today about juries, but I would have spoken on so many of the aspects of the justice system that are being reformed. However, I want to talk about the folly that I think is contained in these reforms to jury trial. I was very interested in the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Carter, who described to us the importance of educating our young about citizenship education and teaching them what citizenship means because they are going to be voting before long. One of the things that citizens value, however, is that they bring something to the justice system, which you do not get anywhere else; they bring their experience of the community to the system. It is that lay participation, which the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, referred to, that enriches the system, building trust and confidence in it.

Opportunities for citizens to do something in the public sphere that affects the lives of their fellow citizens are rare. They have it if they vote, but there are few other ways in which they can make that contribution. We should, therefore, be recognising that reducing jury trial is one of the fundamental ways in which citizen participation is being undermined. We talk about active citizenship all the time, and the recent elections showed us that people are increasingly feeling that their views and the contribution they could make is of little consequence. I think we are making a serious mistake in thinking that reducing jury trial is going to be the solution to the problems in the justice system.

I agree that there is an alarming backlog of cases in the criminal justice system, but everyone—including Sir Brian Leveson, who provided the recommendations—agreed that the backlog was largely a result of chronic underfunding. I see the noble Lord, Lord Grayling, sitting there, and he should hang his head in shame for the cuts that were introduced in his time. I can honestly tell noble Lords that the jury system is part and parcel of what has made our system great; it is respected around the world because it is the fairest way to determine guilt or innocence, and it has the confidence of the community.

It is wrong that we should be misleading the victims’ movement into thinking that this will provide speedy justice for raped women and girls. It is a piece of spin to secure the support of a group of people who have been failed disgracefully by the criminal justice system, and they are not going to be helped by these reforms. Reform is needed, but it is not this.

I remind noble Lords that the Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy, said not that long ago:

“Jury trials are a fundamental part of our democratic settlement. Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea”,


and he wrote a great report on securing the support and confidence of minority communities. He seems to have done a volte face. I quote again what the Prime Minister has said repeatedly throughout his life as a lawyer:

“The right to jury trial is an important factor in the delicate balance between the power of the state and the freedom of the individual”.


It really does hold that place; it is one of the pieces of glue, and if it is further restricted, the greater the imbalance. It is a serious mistake to be reforming jury trials, and my message to the Government is: think again.