PLANS for radical changes to the criminal justice system, including curbs on the right to trial by jury, were presented yesterday by the British Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, to the House of Commons.
Mr Howard outlined 33 detailed proposals which he said would speed up cases, including reducing the age at which young people are recognised as adults by the courts from 18 to 17.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," he told MPs in a statement. "These proposals have the potential . . . to afford justice more speedily and in much greater measure to victims, to witnesses and to the general public alike."
But the Shadow home secretary, Mr Jack Straw, dismissed Mr Howard's proposals as "too little too late". He said Labour welcomed the proposal to lower the age teenagers were considered adult by the courts, but condemned any move to curb the right to jury trials as "shortsighted".
Mr Howard said an "adjournment culture" had developed in the courts and that was why he had initiated a fundamental review of the system last year.
He said ministers would examine "particularly carefully" the review's recommendations to restrict the right to trial by jury. He continued: "Jury trial is a central feature of our system of justice and one to which the government is entirely committed. We would not wish to restrict it without very careful thought."
He said that, under the proposal, defendants seeking a jury trial "without good reason" would no longer be able to overrule the magistrates' view that they should try the case.