David Lammy is anticipated to modify his plans to eliminate the majority of jury trials

Justice Secretary David Lammy is getting ready to change plans that would have gotten rid of jury trials in most criminal cases because of concerns raised by well-known lawyers and cabinet members.

Lammy had been thinking about making a big change that would have made juries only available for the most serious crimes. However, he is now expected to follow the more cautious advice of former judge Sir Brian Leveson. That way, juries would still hear more serious cases, but magistrates or a new judge-only court division would hear "either-way" offenses with a possible sentence of three years or less.

The change in course comes at a time when there is more and more pressure to deal with what Lammy has called a "courts emergency," with the number of criminal cases waiting to be heard expected to reach 100,000. Ministers say that sending less serious cases to magistrates could make victims wait less time for trials.

The Criminal Bar Association, the Bar Council, and MPs have all spoken out against the idea of drastically lowering jury trials. They say that taking away defendants' long-standing right to a jury trial could make people lose faith in the legal system.

Before giving a speech to Parliament, Lammy said that he still strongly supported jury trials, but that changes were needed to keep the system from "grinding to a halt."

Critics say that having more judge-only hearings could raise doubts about justice, especially for defendants who are weak or belong to a minority group. They also say that the government hasn't shown that limiting jury trials would significantly reduce the backlog.

Lammy is expected to present the updated ideas to MPs later this week.