Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased trials without juries on the number of judicial review applications.

Following reforms to the criminal courts, judicial review of criminal court decisions will be available in the same circumstances as it is currently.

We might expect to see an increase in the number of applications, given we expect to see more cases retained in the magistrates’ courts; however, the permission stage of a judicial review will mean that only those with proper grounds for a judicial review will progress.