Petition

Stop the Government restricting the right to a trial by jury

Rejected 10 signatures

What the petition asks

The public trust juries. We support leading legal experts – the Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association, JUSTICE, lawyers, retired judges, and politicians of all parties – in opposing Government plans to remove the right to elect for jury trial for 'either-way offences' with sentences up to 3 years.
Justice needs juries. Curtailing jury trials in England and Wales will erode a deeply entrenched constitutional principle and risks undermining confidence in our criminal justice system. No concrete evidence has been made public that shows the difference this will make, and crucially this will not impact the current Crown Court backlog.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Do not remove trial by jury for certain cases
Do not remove trial by jury for certain cases

Timeline

10 Dec 2025 Petition opened for signatures
19 Jan 2026 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 10
Status Rejected
Rejected 19 Jan 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 27 Aug 2026.