Paul Lacey (Letter, 7 May) is assured by our long tradition of jury service, but may be surprised to learn that some senior members of our judiciary are now actively proposing to meet the present trial backlog crisis, in the short term, by dispensing with juries, at least in some cases.

Jury trials were not applied in terrorism cases in Northern Ireland; and elsewhere in the UK they have never been applied to minor criminal charges. The backlog of trials, reported to be 37,000, is steadily increasing with the demands for social distancing. One solution, already proposed, might be temporary courts in more spacious settings such as universities or hotels.

To guard against the perceived risk of bias in judge-made verdicts, it is essential that routes for appeal are made clear to the accused at the outset.

Edward Mitchell, Abbey Road, Popley