{"id":1546764,"date":"2025-07-13T12:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1546764"},"modified":"2025-07-13T12:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:10:00","slug":"explained-the-uks-potentially-terrifying-criminal-justice-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/explained-the-uks-potentially-terrifying-criminal-justice-reforms\/1546764\/","title":{"rendered":"Explained: The UK’s Potentially Terrifying Criminal Justice “Reforms”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Explained: The UK’s Potentially Terrifying Criminal Justice “Reforms”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Plans to reform the UK\u2019s criminal justice system \u2013 including the scrapping of jury trials for some offences and reduced sentences for those who plead guilty \u2013 are all part of larger \u201creforms\u201d that would empower tyrannical authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Former senior judge and current Investigatory Powers Commissioner Brian Leveson made the news this week with the publication of his report recommending, among other things, \u201cjury-free\u201d trials, in order to \u201cprevent the collapse of the criminal justice system\u201d.<\/p>\n

Note the language, by the way.\u00a0\u201cJury-free<\/em>\u201c<\/a>, not \u201cjury-less<\/em>\u201c, as if juries are a food additive we should avoid, rather than a right guaranteed in British law for over 800 years.<\/p>\n

This is not new. \u201cReplacing\u201d, \u201cupdating\u201d or otherwise \u201creforming\u201d Jury trials has been on the worldwide agenda for years now.<\/p>\n

Within weeks of \u201cCovid\u201d starting, Scotland moved to\u00a0suspend jury trials entirely<\/a>\u00a0(a move so unpopular they reversed it within 24 hours). At the same time, noted lawyers wrote opinion pieces for the Guardian\u00a0headlined<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cCoronavirus has stopped trials by jury, and that\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in the Guardian, Simon Jenkins wrote that Covid had\u00a0presented an \u201copportunity\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to get rid of the old-fashioned jury trial system. He repeated the idea in another column\u00a0a couple of months ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Less than a year later, Scotland wanted to waive jury trials again, this time in rape cases, to \u201cprotect the victim\u201d. They\u00a0scrapped that plan, too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not long after that, in the US, the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict caused the predictable pundits to rant and rave about\u00a0the \u201cbroken\u201d jury system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In January 2023, the French government announced it would be\u00a0scrapping jury trials for rape cases<\/a>\u00a0and all crimes with a maximum sentence of 15-20 years, citing a need to clear the backlog and make the court system more efficient.<\/p>\n

Academic papers are even discussing the possibility of replacing jurors with ChatGPT-like\u00a0artificial intelligences<\/a>. A possibility to horrendous to contemplate.<\/p>\n

Abolishing jury trials is like censorship, surveillance or digital ID \u2013 it\u2019s a lid that fits every pot.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what the powers-that-shouldn\u2019t-be have against jury trials specifically, but it\u2019s easy to speculate that the potential lack of control is an anathema to our ruling institutions and the rigidly patrolled society they are trying to create.<\/p>\n

In the end, the motivation is as immaterial as the agenda is obvious.<\/p>\n

Rather aptly, like a murder trial, lack of knowledge of motive doesn\u2019t override direct evidence, and the evidence is clear: Jury trials are in the crosshairs.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s a lot more to it than that.<\/p>\n

Goodbye, right to appeal<\/h2>\n

Leveson\u2019s recommendations extend beyond jury trials; we covered them when they were first \u201cleaked\u201d\u00a0back in April<\/a>, but\u00a0the final report<\/a>\u00a0is even worse than expected.<\/p>\n

It takes aim at the Right to Appeal as well [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

I begin by recommending that the automatic right to appeal from the magistrates\u2019 court to the Crown Court should be replaced with a requirement for a defendant to\u00a0apply for permission to appeal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

incentivizing guilty pleas<\/h2>\n

The report also suggests offering up to 40% reductions in sentencing for early guilty pleas:<\/p>\n

Although this is ultimately a matter for the government or the Sentencing Council, I would recommend an increase to the maximum reduction for entering a guilty plea to 40% (if made at the first available opportunity)<\/p>\n

Combine this with the knowledge you\u2019ll be tried by a judge (or tribunal) rather than a jury, and that\u2019s a system directly incentivising pleading guilty.<\/p>\n

A recipe for a huge increase in convictions.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more, and it goes beyond this report to the broader story of our criminal justice system. To see it you have to take a step back and see the big picture, like at the end of The Usual Suspects.<\/p>\n

Long-term Propaganda<\/h2>\n

The narrative push for \u201creform\u201d of the justice system is old, and the propaganda drive justifying it is even older.<\/p>\n

Articles and reports complaining about the\u00a0price<\/a>,\u00a0unfairness<\/a>, and\u00a0length<\/a>\u00a0of jury trials go back twenty-five years or more.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had literally\u00a0years<\/em>\u00a0of propaganda bemoaning the low conviction rate for rape and sexual assault. We\u2019ve had years of propaganda saying that alleged victims of rape and sexual assault need to be \u201cprotected\u201d \u2013 including suggestions of testifying in secret, not being subject to cross-examination, and removing jury trials.<\/p>\n

The intention was clearly to tee up this report (or one like it), which claims we should scrap jury trials and incentivize guilty pleas, specifically mentioning sexual assault.<\/p>\n

This is an example of trying to establish what I would call the propaganda of illusory success. You create a fake issue from thin air and then claim your \u201creforms\u201d have fixed it, generating praise for the scheme in the captive media that camouflages both the actual aims and real harms of the plan.<\/p>\n

It works especially well when tied to identity politics or other emotive issues.<\/p>\n

More broadly, the\u00a0list of offences<\/a>\u00a0for which the report suggests scrapping juries is quite obviously cynically chosen to control the conversation. Sexual assault, drunk driving, animal cruelty, child pornography and incest. These are crimes that carry a social stigma such that a) the public generally assumes anyone accused is guilty, and b) nobody will want to be seen criticizing the reform, for fear of being labelled a child pornography\/animal cruelty apologist.<\/p>\n

Hate speech convictions<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not mentioned in the Leveson report, but a good percentage of the alleged \u201cbacklog\u201d in court cases is due to a huge increase in \u201cmalicious communications\u201d offenses. Over\u00a012,000 people per year<\/a>\u00a0are arrested for social media posts etc., more than double the pre-pandemic numbers.<\/p>\n

Increasing the number and types of criminalised behaviours will inevitably increase the number of \u201ccriminals\u201d.<\/p>\n

Prison reform<\/h2>\n

Prison \u201creform\u201d is a major part of the plan for the future, too. Since Labour won the election last year, there has been a constant drizzle of \u201cprison crisis\u201d stories.<\/p>\n

In March, we were warned of a\u00a0\u201cprison system in crisis\u201d\u00a0<\/a>and that could collapse by 2026 if \u201crapid action\u201d was not taken. The same month, Labour were \u201cforced\u201d to implement\u00a0\u201cOperation Safeguard\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to deal with prison overflow.<\/p>\n

Last month, a report claimed\u00a0\u201covercrowded prisoners fuel prisoner violence\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In September of last year, Labour very\u00a0publicly released hundreds of criminals early<\/a>\u00a0in order to \u201cease overcrowding\u201d (and make room for those newly convicted for \u201csocial media offences\u201d following the incredibly fake \u201criots\u201d). They later admitted to releasing dangerous criminals \u201cby mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n

Why did this story hit the headlines? Why wouldn\u2019t they do this in secret?<\/p>\n

Because the outrage is\u00a0part<\/em>\u00a0of the story. Because you\u2019re being offered a false choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh you don\u2019t want us to release criminals onto the streets? I guess we\u2019d better reform the justice system and increase our prisoner capacity then.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(And indeed,\u00a0\u201cDigital ID will help us track these released prisoners!\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n

What will the proposed prison \u201creform\u201d look like?<\/p>\n

Well, for starters, it will be prison\u00a0expansion<\/em>\u00a0rather than reform. That has already\u00a0been confirmed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Secondly, we probably can expect increased privatisation. The UK already has the most private prisons in Europe,\u00a0with 17 of England\u2019s 122<\/a>\u00a0prisons, holding 18% of the prisoners, being run privately.<\/p>\n

The first of Labour\u2019s four new prisons,\u00a0HMP Millsike<\/a>, is already complete and is confirmed to be privately run (and\u00a0\u201cgreen\u201d<\/a>\u00a0too, yay!)<\/p>\n

It will be hard sell for a Labour government already seen as betraying its base on winter fuel payments, benefits and more, but it was Blair\u2019s government that\u00a0saw the UK\u2019s first real surge in private prisons<\/a>, and Keir is very much Blair jnr.<\/p>\n

In summary<\/h2>\n

So, what can we conclude?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s bullet point exactly what our \u201creformed\u201d justice system might look like:<\/p>\n

Increase in criminalised behaviour (\u201chate speech\u201d etc.)<\/p>\n

No jury trials for certain offenses, or any charges carrying a minimum sentence of 2 years or less.<\/p>\n

Incentivised guilty pleas.<\/p>\n

No automatic right of appeal.<\/p>\n

Expanded and increasingly privatised prison system.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0headlines<\/a>\u00a0up and down the country, Leveson has claimed the measures outlined in his report are needed to\u00a0\u201cprevent the collapse of our criminal justice system\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

But these measures ARE the collapse of the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

And the start of a\u00a0criminal<\/em>\u00a0justice system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 07\/13\/2025 – 08:10<\/span><\/p>\n

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Explained: The UK’s Potentially Terrifying Criminal Justice “Reforms” Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org, Plans to reform the UK\u2019s criminal justice system \u2013 including the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1546765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1546764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1546764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1546765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1546764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1546764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1546764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}