The non-jury trial provisions of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 are due to expire in July 2025 unless they are extended for a further two years.

The Act allows the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland to decide when a trial should take place without a jury following a statutory test and if they decide there is a risk that the administration of justice might be impaired if the trial were to be conducted with a jury.

There were 12 non-jury Crown Court cases in 2023, making up 0.8 per cent of the total.

The UK government is seeking views from stakeholders, including members of the public, representative bodies from the judiciary and community leaders from across Northern Ireland on whether the use of non-jury trials should be extended until 2027.

The consultation can be found online and will run for 12 weeks until 3 March 2025.