Speeches by Paul.

“There is a further deep irony here. The strongest argument for new clause 29 comes in part from the Secretary of State for Justice’s own review. The Lammy review described juries as”

“Thank you for that guidance, Ms Jardine. I would suggest that the legal aid changes are a really important outcome of clause 6. In fact, I think I would come under huge criticism if I made this speech without mentioning legal aid, because I have not raised it at all—well, I did in an earlier speech. I have not raised i…”

“and warns:”

“Perhaps I am more optimistic about these things.”

“I agree with my hon. Friend. Frankly, I am shocked that a Labour Government would do that. It is the last thing I expected of a Labour Government.”

“It is a pleasure to start the day with you and end the day with you, Ms Jardine. I am sure you are very much enjoying starting your day with me and ending your day with me, too. [Laughter.] I have just realised how that can be interpreted. My apologies, Ms Jardine; I cannot account for the minds of other Members. To ge…”

““Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea”,”

““shows that Black defendants, older defendants, and female defendants elect for trial at the Crown Court at higher rates than other groups”.”

“For all those reasons, I oppose clause 3 standing part of the Bill. It rests on an arbitrary and unstable three-year threshold and asks courts to make constitutionally significant decisions at exactly the stage when the evidence is often incomplete, but then tries to patch over that unreliability through reallocation, …”

“The Opposition support amendment 51. If the Government insist on retaining clause 4 and schedule 1, then there is a compelling case for removing the power of the Secretary of State to add further offences to the list by regulation. I am particularly concerned by that unconstrained power. If the Government have currentl…”

““You don’t fix the backlog with trials that are widely perceived as unfair.””

“One of the strongest arguments for new clause 29 is that the Government’s own evidence base is plainly incomplete. The equalities statement accompanying the Bill makes a series of important omissions. It says that historical data for triable either-way offences”

“It gives concrete examples, such as:”

“The Bar Council says the proposal introduces an extra layer of hearings and complication. JUSTICE says that the allocation of cases will lengthen the PTPH, and that the process of reallocation will lengthen it further. If Ministers have accounted for that, they should show their workings. If they have not, the headline…”

“If we are increasing the sentence in the magistrates court, I would imagine the Minister will agree that, in some situations, we are increasing the complexity of the case. For example, a sexual assault case could be quite complicated and require, in order to look after the alleged victim and make sure their wellbeing i…”

“Polling cited in that letter suggests jury trials are one of the most trusted elements of the justice system. That takes us back to first principles. Jury trial is not just a fact-finding mechanism; it is also a democratic one. Geoffrey Rivlin KC put it more directly when he wrote that jury trial is the “gold standard”…”

““are an important constitutional safeguard which help to ensure fairness, legitimacy and public confidence”,”

“Charlotte Schreurs and others argue from lived experience that delay is intolerable, and limited reform may be preferable to a justice system that does not function at all. I do not shy away from that view. Victims are absolutely right to be angry about delay, and they are right to say that the current position is into…”

““Restricting jury trials could decrease…confidence…further, particularly among minoritised groups.””

“Something I have said before that bears repeating is that the case against clause 3 and indeed the Bill is not that backlogs are tolerable; it is that the real causes of delay lie elsewhere and should be addressed directly. Many of Leveson’s recommendations, including prison transport, case management, listing, sitting…”