Abstract

This article examines proposals in Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts (2025) to expand juryless criminal trials in England and Wales. Using the experience of Northern Ireland’s Diplock Courts as a comparative case study, it evaluates the implications of removing juries for trial dynamics, evidential assessment and fair‑trial guarantees. The analysis considers how judge‑alone trials, even when formally grounded in a defendant’s “jury waiver”, may operate in conditions of structural or tacit pressure and thereby affect the quality of consent. It further assesses the potential impact of an expanded non‑jury jurisdiction on perceptions of legitimacy and public participation in criminal justice. The article concludes by exploring alternative reform pathways, including greater use of Magistrates’ courts, aimed at addressing current systemic pressures while preserving the centrality of jury trial within the common law tradition

Keywords: Jury Trial, Diplock Courts, Leveson Review, Criminal Reform, Common Law

How to Cite:

Hames, J., (2026) “The Impact of Juryless Trials: A Comparative Look at the Diplock Courts of Northern Ireland and Jury Trial Provisions in the Leveson Review of Criminal Justice in England and Wales”, UCL Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 15(1), 108-132. doi: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.2052-1871.2161