Ben Maguire

Ben Maguire

Liberal Democrat — North Cornwall

Speaking in the House of Commons on 18 December 2025

Debate

Jury Trials

Contribution

Thank you, Mr Speaker; I also wish you and your excellent team, and everyone across the House, a very merry Christmas. Following on from my question on the legal aid means test for domestic abuse victims, I want to highlight the danger that scrapping jury trials for sentences under three years poses for domestic abuse cases. It is highly questionable that this will bring the backlog down, as has been claimed. A Cornish legal aid clinic got in touch with me to detail a judge’s deeply troubling conduct towards a woman seeking justice against her abuser; the judge reportedly described her as “difficult” and effectively blamed her for the abuse she endured. The complex nature of domestic abuse cases requires the breadth of perspective and understanding that jury trials provide. What assessment will the Solicitor General make of the impact that reducing jury trials will have specifically on domestic abuse cases heard in the Crown court?

More from Ben Maguire

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

For Ben Maguire's full parliamentary record including voting history, expenses and all other contributions, see the Ben Maguire report card.