Bar leaders oppose jury trial reforms and warn against immigration tribunal overhaul
The Bar Council has issued a strong warning over proposed justice reforms outlined following the King’s Speech, criticising plans to reduce jury trials and raising concerns about immigration appeal changes. Responding to the Government’s legislative agenda on 13 May 2026, Kirsty Brimelow KC said the organisation remained firmly opposed to any reduction in jury trials and urged ministers instead to establish specialist sexual offences and domestic abuse courts.
Brimelow said the creation of specialist rape courts had appeared in the Labour Party manifesto, while reducing jury trials had not formed part of the party’s election commitments. The Bar Council argued that prioritising cases involving vulnerable witnesses had already been shown to reduce delays in the criminal justice system and said growing evidence suggested that reopening courtrooms was helping reduce the Crown Court backlog.
Brimelow stated that the Government should focus on investment and addressing inefficiencies within the justice system rather than restructuring criminal trial procedures. She also warned that failing to invest in criminal barristers risked worsening delays across the courts.
According to the Bar Council, delays are increasingly occurring because cases are adjourned when no barrister is available to prosecute or defend proceedings. The organisation renewed its call for long-term investment in the justice system and said it remained opposed to measures that would transfer more cases into already pressured magistrates’ courts.
The Bar Council also raised concerns over proposals contained within the proposed Immigration and Asylum Bill. The Government has suggested replacing the existing First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) with a new Independent Appeals Body. Brimelow said the Bar Council had “serious concerns” about the impact such changes could have on procedural fairness, judicial independence and public confidence in the justice system.
The organisation stated it did not support replacing existing trained judges and questioned whether there was evidence the proposed reforms would improve immigration appeal backlogs. The Bar Council added that it would closely examine Government proposals relating to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and reforms to modern slavery legislation through its newly formed ECHR working group.
On the proposed European Partnership Bill, the Bar Council welcomed efforts to improve UK-EU relations following Brexit. The organisation said it supported the UK’s planned participation in the Erasmus+ Programme for 2027-28 and backed proposals for an EU-UK Youth Experience Scheme covering young professionals up to the age of 35.
The Bar Council also called for UK lawyers with more than three years’ post-qualification experience to be allowed to advise clients within the EU on a “fly in-fly out” basis while retaining legal professional privilege protections. It further urged the Government to secure representation rights for UK-qualified lawyers before the Court of Justice of the European Union in cases connected to EU-UK arrangements.