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Criminal barristers begin strike in row over legal aid fees

Criminal barristers begin strike in row over legal aid fees

Criminal barristers are taking part in strike action outside courts in England and Wales in a dispute over legal aid funding.

Eight in 10 barristers voted to boycott taking on new cases in a long-running dispute between the Criminal Bar Association and the Government over legal aid funding, which they say should be increased.

Those striking say that spending cuts by successive governments have resulted in junior barristers exiting the profession, with wages slashed by 28 per cent in a decade.

They also believe that extra hours undertaken to meet rising caseloads are not reflected in take-home pay.

 (REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

Barristers are the latest to go on strike following action by rail workers last week and ongoing reports of unrest among teaching staff and NHS employees.

In April, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) started to refuse to carry out return work, which is described as a gesture of goodwill to prop up the justice system.

The strike action is intended to last for four weeks, beginning with walkouts on Monday June 27 and Tuesday June 28, increasing by one day each week until a five-day strike from Monday July 18 to Friday July 22.

It means that case sare likely to be postponed, including crown court trials.

Barristers have begun staging picket lines outside court including at the Old Bailey in London and at crown courts in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester.

One criminal barrister has said he is “out of pocket” due to the low pay in the profession.

Jonathan Reuben told the PA news agency outside the Old Bailey: “We should be getting paid for the work we are doing because as a profession we are losing lots and lots of young talent and it’s extremely sad.

“We’re not attracting the type of people we used to attract many decades ago, because it’s just not a sustainable job, we’re getting paid minimum wage, and the way we’re paid as well is utterly ridiculous.

“I did a commercial job beforehand, so I came to the job, I had savings, but over the years I’ve been doing the job those savings have massively depleted, so essentially I’ve been holding up the criminal justice system.

“I’ve maintained the criminal justice system, investing in a way the Government hasn’t invested in it, so it’s affected me a huge amount, I don’t see my family as much, I work extremely long hours, unsociable hours.

“A lot of my own personal investment has gone, I’m out of pocket every day.”

Barrister Rebecca Filletti said she is striking because the criminal justice system is “absolutely at breaking point”.

Speaking outside Manchester Crown Court, she said: “I work in excess of 18-hour days, I work weekends, I miss out on family things, and most of that work is work for which I don’t get paid and I feel I need to do to a good job for my clients.

“Today is the first day in my entire career I have not gone to court. I attend if I’m sick, I attend if I have got family commitments, and I would not have taken this decision lightly.

“The reason I have taken this decision is things need to change.

“We need to attract more people. There needs to be more people working in the criminal justice system because we can’t cope. We just can’t cope any more. It’s exhausting and the work we do is under-appreciated.”

Barristers have warned that the backlog of almost 60,000 crown court cases has had a negative impact on defendants, who can sometimes be left waiting for more than six months before they go to trial.

Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, has said strikes by barristers are "regrettable" and will "only delay justice for victims".

Mr Raab said: "It’s regrettable that the Criminal Bar Association is striking, given only 43.5 per cent of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option.

“I encourage them to agree the proposed 15 per cent pay rise which would see a typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year."

However, a CBA spokesman said the 15 per cent pay rise would not land immediately as it would not apply to backlogged cases.

They said: “The existing rates will remain on all of the cases stuck on this record backlog until they conclude which may be many years away.”

By the end of April there were 58,271 backlogged cases, according to HM Courts and Tribunal Service figures.

Jo Sidhu QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said the action is not merely about pay but “redressing the shortfall in the supply of criminal barristers to help deal with the crisis in our courts”.

“We have already suffered an average decrease in our real earnings of 28 per cent since 2006 and juniors in their first three years of practice earn a median income of only £12,200, which is below minimum wage,” he said.

Mr Sidhu said almost 40 per cent of junior criminal barristers left the profession in one year.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter of specialist criminal barristers – around 300 – quit in the last five years, he added.