Barristers vote to go on strike in row over legal aid funding amid court backlog

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Barristers have voted to go on strike in a row over legal aid funding.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents barristers in England and Wales, said several days of court walkouts will begin from next week.

The promised industrial action, announced on Monday following a ballot of members, comes at a time of significant backlogs across the court system.

They are the latest profession to go on strike, ahead of planned action by rail workers later this week, and reports of unrest among teaching staff and NHS employees.

The CBA said around 81.5 per cent of the more than 2,000 members to respond supported industrial action.

Jo Sidhu QC and Kirsty Brimelow QC from the CBA said: “This extraordinary commitment to the democratic process reflects a recognition amongst criminal barristers at all levels of call and across all Circuits that what is at stake is the survival of a profession of specialist criminal advocates and of the criminal justice system which depends so critically upon their labour.

“Without immediate action to halt the exodus of criminal barristers from our ranks, the record backlog that has crippled our courts will continue to inflict misery upon victims and defendants alike, and the public will be betrayed.”

Lawyers say the criminal justice system is in crisis after a 43 per cent fall in real terms in the legal aid budget since 2004-05. Ministers have unveiled a proposed package of reforms and pay increases after an independent review by the former judge Sir Christopher Bellamy, but lawyers say there needs to be an immediate increase in their pay.

The CBA says many of its members are being forced to leave the criminal bar after a fall in incomes of nearly 30 per cent over the last two decades. It says specialist criminal barristers make an average annual income after expenses of £12,200 in the first three years of practice.

The strike action is intended to last for four weeks, beginning with walkouts on Monday and Tuesday 27 and 28 June, increasing by one day each week until a five-day strike from Monday, 17 and 18 July to Friday, 22 July.

It means cases at which barristers are required will likely have to be postponed, including crown court trials.

Barristers are expected to strike on picket lines outside court, including at The Old Bailey in London and at crown courts in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester.

In April, the CBA started to refuse to carry out “return work” - stepping in and picking up court hearings and other work for colleagues whose cases are overrunning - which is described as a gesture of goodwill to prop up the justice system.

The CBA said it also made “repeated efforts” to persuade the government to honour the recommendations of the Criminal Legal Aid Review to increase their fees by 15 per cent immediately, but have been disappointed.

Justice minister James Cartlidge said the decision was “disappointing.”

“This is a disappointing decision by the Criminal Bar Association, considering less than 50 per cent of CBA members voted in support of the option likely to cause the most disruption,” Mr Cartlidge said.

“The 15 per cent pay increase we consulted on would mean a typical criminal barrister earning around £7,000 extra per year and only last week I confirmed we are moving as quickly as possible to introduce fee rises by the end of September.

“We encourage the Criminal Bar Association to work with us, rather than escalate to unnecessary strike action, as it will only serve to harm victims as they are forced to wait longer for justice.”

Additional reporting by PA