Former UK criminal justice head Brian Leveson is standing by his recommendation to cut down jury trials in the UK as a way to reduce Crown court backlog, reported the Law Society Gazette .

Responding to feedback from the Bar Council, Law Society and lawyers , Leveson said that while everyone was entitled to a fair trial, magistrates oversee the majority of cases without facing concerns about unfairness.

“I’m a barrister by training. I have spent 55 years as a criminal lawyer. I believe in the system, but the system cannot survive as it presently is. What I have said to the Bar Council and Law Society and others who say ‘more money and sitting days will solve this’, it will not,” he told the House of Commons justice select committee in a statement published by the Gazette .

Leves

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