Jury restriction plan clears first Commons hurdlepublished at 11:55 GMT
11:55 GMT
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Another item on the prime minister’s agenda this week is the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which returned to Parliament on Tuesday.
The bill, which aims to curb access to jury trials in England and Wales, will progress to the next stage it passed by 304 votes to 203, a majority of 101.
Some Labour MPs had voicing their opposition to the plans. Ten rebelling against the government, and dozens abstained.
The proposals would see juries in England and Wales replaced with a single judge in cases where a convicted defendant would be jailed for up to three years.
A study of the court backlogs by the Institute of Government, a think tank, projected that cutting jury trials would save less than 2% of court time, assuming that the cases would be dealt with more quickly.
The Ministry of Justice said that more than 90% of criminal cases were already heard fairly without a jury.