The Lord Chief Justice said that ministers should consider limiting the availability of jury trials if court delays become unmanageable, especially for cases such as assault, theft and burglary, that could be tried either by magistrates or by a judge and jury. 

Lord Burnett believes that there is a possibility worthy of consideration by policymakers to legislate to enable, for a short time, the disposal of either-way trials in the Crown court by a judge sitting with two magistrates. He said to BBC that ‘That would retain the lay public involvement in trials, but give rise to none of the difficulties of social distancing that attach to having a jury involved in a trial.’ 

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