Justice Minister Simon Power is poised to drop controversial changes to the right to silence in return for the support he needs to pass stalled justice sector reforms.

Progress on the Government's Criminal Procedures Bill deadlocked after it was considered by a select committee because it was opposed by all political parties other than National and United Future.

Mr Power has been negotiating with ACT for the past two weeks.

The bill is the biggest shake-up of the justice system in decades and aims to free up 16,000 court sitting hours a year, saving the Government $24 million over five years.

In its current form it removes an accused's right to remain silent and not have that held against them. It also raises the threshold for jury trials and requires defence and prosecution lawyers to advance cases as far as practical outside the court.

ACT's Parliamentary leader John Boscawen yesterday said National had proposed a compromise which would allow the Rules Committee – a panel of legal experts chaired by Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias – to decide which offences the bill's disclosure regime would apply to.

However, only three of the party's MPs – Heather Roy, Sir Roger Douglas and Hillary Calvert – had agreed to the changes.

Mr Boscawen and Rodney Hide had remained opposed.

The pair's biggest concern was the bill's intrusion on the right to remain silent, he said.

It is understood Mr Power will now dump plans to abolish the right to silence and involve the Rules Committee. A spokesman for Mr Power said the minister was pragmatic about the bill.

"He wants to move this along and is always prepared to negotiate, especially to make progress on such an important piece of legislation."

The spokesman said Mr Power would "do what is takes to get this bill moving".

With the support of the three ACT MPs and United Future leader Peter Dunne, the Government has the numbers to pass the bill, but by a less than ideal one-vote majority.

Mr Power will be hoping dropping plans to remove the right to silence will bring Mr Boscawen and Mr Hide on board, giving the Government a three-vote majority.

The bill is unlikely to be returned to the House this week but is likely to return before Parliament rises for the election on October 6 and Mr Power retires from politics.

- Fairfax NZ