伦敦，10月4日电——英国政府周日宣布，将放弃取消被告在较轻刑事案件中由陪审团审判的历史性权利的计划，此举是对许多律师和政界人士持续批评该提案的回应。
LONDON, Oct 4 - Britain will scrap plans to remove the historic right to trial by jury for defendants in less serious criminal cases, the government announced on Sunday, in response to sustained criticism of the proposals by many lawyers and politicians.
自7月就任首相的安迪·伯纳姆决定废除其前任基尔·斯塔默的政策，此前数百名囚犯被提前释放以防止监狱爆满，这只是刑事司法危机的一个缩影。
The decision by Andy Burnham, who became prime minister in July, to drop his predecessor Keir Starmer's policy comes as hundreds of prisoners were released early to stop prisons becoming full, in just one element of a criminal justice crisis.
司法部表示，将放弃限制可能判处三年以下监禁案件陪审团审判的计划，这一决定总体上受到刑事律师协会和其他团体的欢迎。
Plans to curb jury trials for cases where a jail sentence was likely to be less than three years would be abandoned, the Ministry of Justice said, which was broadly welcomed by the Criminal Bar Association and other groups.
但律师们对司法部增加治安法官（无陪审团审理较轻罪行）的量刑权力、以及取消被告选择陪审团审判权利的决定表示担忧。
But lawyers raised concerns over the MoJ's decision to increase sentencing powers for magistrates – who hear trials for more minor offences without a jury – and the removal of defendants' right to elect trial by jury.
司法大臣亚历克斯·诺里斯表示：“我听到了关于增加皇家法院由法官独任审判案件数量提案的强烈意见，并决定改变方向。”
"I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course," Justice Secretary Alex Norris said.
刑事律师协会主席安德鲁·托马斯感谢政府“听取证据并做出正确裁决”，但他表示“我们的陪审团审判制度仍面临严重威胁”。
CBA chair Andrew Thomas thanked the government for "listening to the evidence and reaching the right verdict", though he said "a severe threat to our trial by jury remains".
大律师公会主席基尔斯蒂·布赖姆洛表示赞同，指出在治安法院案件积压日益增加的情况下，赋予治安法官更大权力可能适得其反。
The Bar Council's chair Kirsty Brimelow agreed, saying that giving magistrates greater powers when the backlog in magistrates' courts is increasing could be counterproductive.
受害者等待多年伸张正义 截至6月底，英格兰和威尔士皇家法院等待陪审团审判的案件积压近8.1万宗，几乎是2020年数字的两倍，受害者、被告和证人往往要等待数年才能开庭审理。
VICTIMS WAITING YEARS FOR JUSTICE The current backlog of cases awaiting trial by jury in Crown Courts in England and Wales was nearly 81,000 at the end of June, almost double the figure in 2020, and victims, defendants and witnesses often wait years for cases to come to trial.
斯塔默的司法大臣戴维·拉米去年表示，减少陪审团审判将加快司法进程，但遭到了律师们的强烈反对，他们称这剥夺了被告由同辈陪审团审判的基本权利。
Starmer's justice minister David Lammy last year said reducing jury trials would speed up justice, but met a furious backlash from lawyers who said it curtailed the fundamental right of defendants to be tried by a jury of their peers.
批评者还认为，历届政府多年的忽视和投资不足，而非陪审团审判，才是延误的根本原因，同时英格兰司法负责人对法官的安全提出了“严重担忧”。
Critics also argued that years of neglect and under-investment by successive governments, rather than jury trials, were the root cause of delays, while the head of England's judiciary raised "grave security concerns" for judges.
司法部表示将维持计划，即复杂欺诈案件可由法官单独审理，这一直被提议用以避免陪审员参与长达数月的案件审理，尽管政府委托的审查今年否决了这一想法。
The MoJ said it would maintain plans that complex fraud trials could be heard by a judge alone, which has long been mooted to avoid jurors sitting on months-long cases, though a government-commissioned review this year rejected the idea.