{
  "id": 10440992,
  "title": "New bill to soften Starmer-era scrapping of jury trials, justice secretary confirms",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/new-bill-to-soften-starmer-era-scrapping-of-jury-trials-justice",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-28T12:20:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Politico EU",
    "slug": "politico-eu",
    "url": "https://www.politico.eu/article/new-bill-keir-starmer-jury-trials-justice-secretary-alex-norris/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Liverpool, England — Justice Secretary Alex Norris has confirmed a new Courts Bill aimed at addressing concerns over the Keir Starmer-era plan to reduce up to half of all jury trials in England and Wales. Norris, who took the position in July, announced during an appearance on the \"Politics at Sam and Anne’s\" podcast that the bill, scheduled for the Commons in October, will feature \"major structural reforms\" to expedite court proceedings. However, Norris acknowledged that critics of trimming jury trials had been taken into consideration since Prime Minister Andy Burnham expressed in the summer his preference for maintaining access to jury trials. One potential solution may involve returning to original recommendations by previous Justice Brian Leveson, who proposed judge-and-magistrate panels as an alternative to juries in certain cases. Leveson's recommendation sparked controversy among some lawmakers who feared the fundamental principles of the English justice system were at risk. Norris addressed these concerns, stating that the government has listened to the worries about striking a balance between the speed of the justice system and public confidence in the process. Additionally, Norris is addressing the issue of early prisoner release, a Starmer-era initiative to alleviate overcrowded jails. Norris proposed measures such as expanded restriction zones for those on bail for serious offenses and more advanced monitoring of offenders. Nevertheless, Norris ruled out altering the early release of individuals convicted of stalking and domestic violence, a decision that has drawn criticism from victims' and women's rights groups. The bailing of sex offender Zafer Dogan back to his London home, where he committed crimes including producing thousands of AI-generated child pornography images, has sparked intense backlash from London's Metropolitan Police Chief Mark Rowley. Rowley condemned the system as leaving victims \"fearful\" and criticized the \"unfathomable decisions\" made by the justice system. Norris mentioned having \"conversations\" with Rowley about these criticisms.",
  "summary": "Alex Norris tells POLITICO his department has heard need to balance speed and confidence in the justice system.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}