Dr Rebecca Helm leads a research seminar on Individual rights in the age of the disappearing trial.

As criminal justice systems continue to be overburdened, jury-focused systems across the world are increasingly reliant on the vast majority of defendants pleading guilty rather than exercising their right to a jury trial. Despite this, the legal infrastructure designed to protect defendants is still largely focused on trial by jury. My research identifies challenges to defendant rights in this system, with a focus on wrongful convictions arising from guilty pleas. I examine legal infrastructure in the USA and England and Wales and use empirical data and evidence from relevant cases to critique current regulations and to suggest potential reforms.