Thousands of defendants a year could be stripped of the historic right to a jury trial under radical proposals.
A review commissioned by the Justice Secretary set out a range of measures to slash the Crown court backlog.
It also proposed increased use of 'out of court' punishments - often dismissed by critics as a mere 'slap on the wrist' - for lower-level offenders.
As revealed by the Mail yesterday, the review said criminals who plead guilty should get up to 40 per cent off their jail terms, up from the current maximum of one third.
Under its main proposal, instead of suspects' guilt or innocence being decided by a jury they would face trial by a judge sitting with two magistrates in a new type of court.
The major, 380-page report by retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson said the move would save 9,000 Crown court sitting days a year, freeing up space for more serious cases to be heard in jury trials.
The report did not say how many cases would switch to the new court - to be called the Crown Court Bench Division (CCBD) - but it is likely to be thousands each year in England and Wales.
Jury trial would be removed for more than 170 types of crime, including sexually assaulting a child, causing death by careless driving, incest, firearms offences and importing drugs including Class A substances like heroin.
The CCBD would be estimated to deal with cases 20 per cent more quickly than a regular Crown court trial, Sir Brian said, and it would have the same sentencing powers.
His report added: 'Only through the combined impact of these measures can government start to overcome the current crisis and reduce the risk of total system collapse.'
The current Crown court backlog stood at a record 76,957 cases at the end of March - with trials now being listed to take place in 2029 - while in magistrates' courts 310,304 cases were awaiting a hearing.
The review called for 'greater use' of out of court resolutions such as cautions, community punishments and fixed penalty fines.
Police and prosecutors should even review the current court backlog to see if cases would be suitable for out of court punishments, it said.
'It's not soft on crime at all. It is trying to tackle those areas of crime that are not presently being tackled,' Sir Brian said.
He said the Government should find money to increase the number of Crown court sitting days by 20,000 a year to 130,000 to 'maximise the effectiveness' of his proposed reforms.
It would cost £1billion by 2029-30, the report said.
The courts report comes in the wake of separate Labour plans to shake-up prison sentences.
A review published in May by former Tory justice secretary David Gauke - and accepted in principle by Labour - proposed allowing some criminals out of jail after serving just a third of their sentence.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'Taken together, the Leveson and Gauke reviews will see criminals like burglars and even some killers serve just a fifth of their prison sentence.
'That makes a mockery of our justice system.' Victims' Commissioner Baroness Newlove welcomed the report's 'bold, radical proposals' but added: 'For many victims, plans to increase sentence discounts for guilty pleas and expand out of court disposals will feel like justice being diluted once again.'
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she will consider the recommendations before publishing legislative changes in the autumn.
Changes risk hollowing out the concept of punishment
An art installation at the Ministry of Justice's brutalist HQ in Westminster offers passers-by the chance to brush up on a series of historic legal quotations.
One extract displayed in white lettering on its plate glass windows comes from the Bill of Rights 1688.
'That excessive Baile ought not to be required nor excessive Fines imposed nor cruell and unusuall Punishments inflicted,' it reads. 'That Jurors ought to be duely impanneled and returned.'
Perhaps Sir Brian Leveson did not glance at the artwork yesterday as he arrived at the building to brief journalists on his report, the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts.
Once the Press conference was under way, Sir Brian was insistent his proposal to significantly curtail the right to a jury trial was Really Not That Much Of A Big Deal.
Then, someone in the briefing made the mistake of mentioning Magna Carta. 'With great respect, Magna Carta did not call for trial by jury. Magna Carta talked about trial by peers,' Sir Brian bristled.
He expanded the same point further in his weighty report, saying there is no constitutional right to jury trial.
Whatever the historical origins, Sir Brian's proposals feel like a watershed moment. More than 170 crimes should no longer be eligible for jury trial, his report says.
A very similar proposal was put forward 24 years ago under Tony Blair's New Labour, in a report by another judge, Sir Robin Auld.
But it fell by the wayside after the director of civil rights group Liberty condemned the 'huge attack on fairness in the criminal justice system'.
This time, Labour is trying to deal with a massive backlog in the courts and is far more likely to push on through.
Other recommendations in Sir Brian's report will lead to shorter jail terms or no proper punishment at all.
Labour has already introduced policies which are allowing tens of thousands more criminals a year out of jail early and it plans to go even further.
The deeply troubling aspect of these changes is that Labour is rushing headlong into simultaneous and overlapping reforms.
It comes at a high risk that over-eager ministers will hollow out the justice system and the very concept of punishment itself.