# UK withdraws proposal for some judge-only criminal trials

> The Justice Secretary said plans for some criminal trials before a judge alone would be removed from the Bill and wider court changes accelerated.

- Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/england-wales-courts-bill-jury-trial-changes-october-2026
- Publisher: Newsverum
- Section: Politics
- Country: United Kingdom
- Published: 2026-10-06T08:58:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-07T00:56:16+03:00
- Event / data period: 2026-10-04
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England and Wales Justice Secretary Alex Norris announced changes to the Courts Bill on 4 October. The proposal to allow some criminal trials to be heard by a judge alone, without a jury, will be removed; the government says jury trials will continue for more serious cases. A separate proposal to allow technical and lengthy fraud and financial trials before a judge alone remains.

The Ministry of Justice said wider criminal-court changes would be accelerated, with a focus on reducing the pending caseload. It said about 81,000 cases were waiting in the Crown Court, nearly one-third for at least a year. The Bill is due back in the House of Commons on 13 October, and the government plans to publish its full response to the Leveson review in the coming weeks.

## Data

### UK withdraws proposal for some judge-only criminal trials

The Justice Secretary said plans for some criminal trials before a judge alone would be removed from the Bill and wider court changes accelerated.

Methodology: The Bill change, caseload and parliamentary timetable are taken from the Ministry of Justice release dated 4 October 2026.

| date | label | description | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-04 | UK withdraws proposal for some judge-only criminal trials | The Justice Secretary said plans for some criminal trials before a judge alone would be removed from the Bill and wider court changes accelerated. | occurred |

Sources: <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/justice-reforms-to-be-rolled-out-faster-as-justice-secretary-sets-out-changes-to-courts-bill> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/england-wales-courts-bill-jury-trial-changes-october-2026/data/official-policy-action?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/england-wales-courts-bill-jury-trial-changes-october-2026/data/official-policy-action?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [Ministry of Justice](<https://www.gov.uk/government/news/justice-reforms-to-be-rolled-out-faster-as-justice-secretary-sets-out-changes-to-courts-bill>) (Source checked: 2026-10-06; Published: 2026-10-04)

## Correction history

- 2026-10-07T00:56:16+03:00: German and Portuguese editions and translations of the data and correction explanations have been added to this article.

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