Quick Take | Jury on jury

The UK is planning to let go of nearly a thousand-year-old tradition to combat judicial pendency

The step must make India reflect on its own system's backlog wherein juries don't exist (Photo | Flickr/Creative Commons)

In the United Kingdom, a vigorous debate is on over plans to curb jury trials, a tradition that dates back nearly 1,000 years. The Labour government says courts are in crisis, with cases pushed to 2029 and beyond. It wants judge-only trials for less serious crimes to cut delays and ease a backlog of under a lakh cases. Supporters call this practical and overdue. Critics warn it weakens a basic right: to be judged by one’s peers. Looking at India, where juries don’t exist and still pending cases run into millions, offers little comfort. India’s problem is manpower shortage; Britain’s is funding and capacity. The jury is truly out on the mode of trial.