Britain's new Victims' Commissioner has issued a powerful plea for radical court reform, warning that the justice system has become an "endurance test" that breaks the people it is meant to serve.
A System in Gridlock Demands Bold Action
Claire Waxman, who began her role on Monday 8th January 2026, stated that long-held legal traditions must be challenged to break a dire "gridlock" in the courts. Her intervention comes as the Government faces significant backlash over its controversial plans to reduce the number of jury trials.
Writing in The Mirror, Ms Waxman, a stalking victim for over two decades, argued the status quo is "untenable". She highlighted that rape survivors can wait five years or more for their case to be heard, a situation she branded "justice in name only".
"Every day we hesitate, the queue grows longer, and more victims walk away – leaving offenders to act with impunity," she wrote. Her comments align with Government proposals, informed by a review from retired judge Sir Brian Leveson, to create a new court division.
The Government's Controversial Proposal
In December, Justice Secretary David Lammy announced plans that would see criminals facing sentences of less than three years lose their automatic right to a jury trial. This move is expected to halve the proportion of cases going to juries, from 3% to 1.5%.
Ministers insist this drastic step is necessary to tackle the mammoth courts backlog, which currently stands at nearly 80,000 cases. They stress that juries will remain mandatory for the most serious indictable offences, including rape, murder, and terrorism.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman defended the plans, stating that jury trials now take twice as long as they did 25 years ago. "This Government is making investment, turning round an oil tanker which has been run to the ground for years when we inherited it," she told MPs.
Fierce Opposition and the Road Ahead
The proposals have ignited fierce debate. The Conservative party used an opposition day in the Commons to call for the changes to be rejected. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer faces a potential rebellion from within his own party, with almost 40 Labour MPs having previously labelled the idea "madness".
The legal establishment has also voiced strong criticism. Riel Karmy-Jones KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said the plans bring "a wrecking ball to a system that is fundamentally sound", arguing that juries are not the cause of the backlog.
Amid this clash between lawyers and politicians, Claire Waxman has positioned herself as the champion for those most affected. "My job is to ensure the victims’ voice is not lost in important debates about tradition and process," she asserted, urging all sides to face the "hard truth" of a failing system.
