Speeches by Juss.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this important debate. Currently, there is no general duty on universities to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm to adult students. With much of the University of W…”

“I am really sorry to hear the case of the hon. Lady’s constituent. When I first raised this issue in the House last May, I mentioned that over the previous 10 years one student had taken their own life every four days in England and Wales. When Natasha took her life in April 2018, she was at least the 10th student to h…”

“Yes.”

“We will not have a jury where the sentence is expected to be three years or less—that is going to be the cut-off point. Do you anticipate any problems with that three-year period?”

“Ninety per cent of criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. I don’t think anybody would say that they are not dealing with those cases properly. I am glad that you have clarified the distinction between a professional magistrate and a lay magistrate. I had a friend who was not happy with that distinction being mad…”

“Just so that I am clear in my own mind, there is no issue about jury trials taking longer because juries are taking more time to consider and deliberate, with cases becoming more complex and additional disclosure to consider as well, and therefore there would be a time saving from just having a judge-only trial.”

“Do you accept that, because magistrates are chosen from a wider pool of people, they will bring a level of diversity and community experience that judges alone will not, and that this is probably why Brian Leveson suggested that the bench division should be a judge and two magistrates?”

“Do you accept that, because magistrates are chosen from a wider pool of people, they will bring a level of diversity and community experience that judges alone will not, and that this is probably why Brian Leveson suggested that the bench division should be a judge and two magistrates?”

“My hon. Friend makes a valid point, and I agree. There will be cases where a student is vulnerable and action needs to be taken, but where that student may not have been diagnosed with a disability. It does not feel fair that in those circumstances the university should not take any steps to deal with the student’s vul…”

“So it is not an issue for you.”

“So you do not anticipate the judge having any significant additional burden in performing that role?”

“I am not trying to oversimplify the situation, but for cases where we currently have a jury trial, the jury decides the facts of the case and the judge advises on points of law. If these cases go to the Crown court bench division, how do you think that will change the role of the judge? Do you think we are moving away …”

“Yes.”

“We will not have a jury where the sentence is expected to be three years or less—that is going to be the cut-off point. Do you anticipate any problems with that three-year period?”

“Ms Sackman, in the previous panel, Riel Karmy-Jones KC appeared to accept the Leveson review’s claim that jury trials for the most serious indictable offences have more than doubled in hearing time since 2001, but her response was that that was not because of having a jury. Do you agree with that? If not, why not?”

“And diversity, yes. That is why I make that suggestion, but I would like to hear from the rest of the panel.”

“Ninety per cent of criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. I don’t think anybody would say that they are not dealing with those cases properly. I am glad that you have clarified the distinction between a professional magistrate and a lay magistrate. I had a friend who was not happy with that distinction being mad…”

“I can understand why the public might think that they would like to be tried by their peers. Brian Leveson proposed that the Crown court bench division would constitute a judge sitting alongside two magistrates, without a jury. He said that would “maintain fair trial standards”. He said it would bring in “the community…”

“So it is not an issue for you.”

“Good afternoon. I am Warinder Juss, the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West. I hold a current practising certificate—I am a solicitor but not practising—and I am a member of the GMB trade union executive council, as well as being a member of various APPGs.”