Legislative scrutiny: Courts and Tribunals Bill

Status / emerging findings

• 95% of 350 surveyed legal professionals believe racial bias exists in the justice system; 63% say it plays a significant role—directly contradicting the Lord Chancellor's claim of no evidence of disproportionate judicial outcomes
• Black defendants are 26% more likely to elect Crown court jury trials than white defendants (26% vs 15%); removing jury election will disproportionately impact Black defendants' trial choices
• Only 1% of Crown court judges are Black, unchanged since 2014, with no pipeline improvement despite decades of diversity calls; 'secret soundings' in judicial appointment processes cited as barrier
• Committee focused final session on bias, diversity, and fairness gaps not adequately covered in earlier evidence

Why it matters

If the Bill removes jury trials without addressing documented racial disparities in the judiciary, it risks systematically disadvantaging Black defendants while speeding up court backlogs.

Tone arc

Evidence sessions shifted from procedural examination to pointed interrogation of equity claims: the introduction of expert testimony on racial bias and demographic data on judicial diversity sharpened the committee's challenge to the government's fairness assumptions.

Key witnesses

Keir Monteith KC, Richard Atkinson (Law Society), Tom Guest (Crown Prosecution Service), Sir Brian Leveson, David Lammy MP (Lord Chancellor)