Almost 81,000 cases are currently awaiting trial in the crown courts, with that figure projected to reach 100,000 without reform. The UK government said abandoning the proposals would allow it to begin tackling the backlog sooner, rather than waiting to establish a new judge-only Crown Court division.

Justice secretary Alex Norris said: “This government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court. I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it. But 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.

“This allows us to start that work far earlier, ensuring that under this government we do not have victims waiting endlessly for justice.

“Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment.”

The proposals, developed by David Lammy, when he was justice secretary, would have removed jury trials for defendants likely to receive sentences of up to three years. They followed a review by former judge Sir Brian Leveson, who recommended removing the right to jury trial from thousands of defendants to prevent the criminal justice system in England and Wales from collapsing.

Juryless trials have not entirely been abandoned – they will now be limited to a small number of lengthy and technical fraud cases.

The government will also retain plans to remove defendants’ right to choose between trial by jury in the Crown Court and trial by magistrates for “either way” offences. Magistrates will instead make that decision. Ministers also intend to increase magistrates’ maximum sentencing power from 12 months to 18 months, with an option to extend it to two years.

Kirsty Brimelow, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, said: “We underline that it is a dangerous experiment to increase sentencing powers of magistrates and remove the right to elect from defendants at a time when prisons are at capacity and the backlog of cases is accelerating in the magistrates courts.

“We know that women, black people, mixed-race people and older people elect jury trials more often than other groups, and this proposal risks deepening existing disparities and exacerbating distrust in the justice system from minoritised communities.”

The Law Society of England and Wales and the Criminal Bar Association also welcomed the change while raising concerns about diverting more cases to magistrates.

Victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman said: “Victims are entitled to ask whether what remains will be enough to meet the challenge [of delivering swifter justice]. “They are being asked to place their faith in a plan that ministers themselves previously argued would not be.

“The lessons from the prisons crisis should be clear: postponing difficult decisions rarely solves problems. More often, it simply stores them up for the future.

“Victims need hope. They need to know this is genuine reform that matches the scale of the challenge: reform that will alleviate their prolonged suffering, rather than an easy compromise that delivers only marginal improvements today while leaving both the justice system and the victims who rely on it vulnerable tomorrow.”