Rejected petition Abandon any plans to curtail, in any way, the right to Trial by Jury

The government is concerned about the severe backlog in holding trials in the courts. The Law Society, Bar Council & other legal rights & campaign groups have suggested a range of options for addressing this issue. But the Justice Secretary prefers the drastic remedy of ending trial by jury.

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The right to jury trial has been a core British value for centuries. It was developed in Anglo-Saxon & Scandinavian nations, and is enshrined in Magna Carta: "No free man shall be...imprisoned, or deprived of his liberties [except] by lawful judgment of his peers". Experience across the world shows that keeping the right to jury trial (except for minor offences) is the most powerful protector of individual liberty. The government must find other ways of addressing the backlog in the courts.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

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We already have a petition open on this subject, which you may wish to sign here:

Do not remove trial by jury for certain cases
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/751480

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 28 November 2025
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