The Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 allows for the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct that a specific Crown Court trial be conducted without a jury in certain circumstances.

The non-jury provisions were intended to be temporary and must be renewed by Parliament every two years to remain in force.

At the time of the last renewal in 2021, ministers said they hoped “that it will be the last”.

However, the government has confirmed in its response to a 12-week public consultation on the non-jury trial provisions that it will ask Parliament to approve another two-year extension.

The response states: “The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland agrees that the continued need for the provisions is regrettable.

“However, the concerns raised during the consultation of the potential risk to the administration of justice and to individuals if the non-jury trial provisions were to expire imminently, cannot be ignored.”

It adds: “The government does not want these temporary measures to become normalised, and remains fully committed to seeing an end to their use, when it is safe to do so and compatible with the interests of justice.”

In 2021, eight non-jury trials took place, representing 0.6 per cent of all Crown Court cases in Northern Ireland.