The walkout, which is set to coincide with the announcement of a new Tory leader and prime minister on 5 September, “will result in the vast majority of crown court trials in England and Wales being adjourned, while others could collapse entirely”, said The Guardian.ĭuring the first 19 days of industrial action this summer, there were 6,235 court cases disrupted, including 1,415 trials, across England and Wales, said the paper. I cannot see the Bar backing down.” Impact on the courts And these are actions, not words – actions that have never been taken before. Strength of feeling is not an infallible guide to the merits of an argument of course, but here they do coincide.
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Barristers face “banker hours and teacher stress”, he said.īut what is clear is that “unlike teachers, train drivers, or even doctors” barristers participating in the walkouts “are risking serious professional disciplinary sanction. Yet, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and stagnant wages, there is sympathy for a group “not usually known as being a militant workforce”, said the Manchester Evening News.Ĭriminal barrister Adam King, writing for UnHerd, said that “on the surface, yes, it’s about money”. “If you have an organisation seemingly intent on indefinite strike action, no matter the cost to wider society, with demands that no government could acquiesce to,” he said, the only option left is “to rapidly recruit a Crown Defence Service to mirror the, with lawyers who would have the security of a permanent post and, in return, the government of the day would have the certainty that it could keep the courts running.” In The Telegraph former justice minister James Cartlidge went further. Justice minister Sarah Dines said the decision by barristers was “irresponsible” and “wholly unjustified considering we are increasing criminal barristers’ fees by 15%, which will see the typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year”. It falls well short of the 25% rise in pay for legal aid work called for by the CBA. Ultimately coming down to cuts to pay and legal aid – where barristers represent defendants who could not otherwise afford a lawyer – the CBA said: “It is a decision to which we have been driven after years and years of abject neglect of the criminal justice system and the cynical exploitation of our time, effort and goodwill by successive governments determined to deliver justice on the cheap,” Reuters reported.Ĭriminal barristers had been offered a 15% pay rise by the government, “but this will not be made effective immediately and will only apply to new cases, not those in the backlog”, said The Mirror, adding that “it fails to wipe out years of cuts”.
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“Quite simply, this strike has been years in the coming,” said BBC home and legal correspondent Dominic Casciani.
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But on Monday they voted overwhelmingly in favour of escalating the action with a full walkout set to begin on 5 September.
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Over the summer, members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have been striking on alternate weeks in a dispute with the government over pay, working conditions and legal aid funding. Criminal barristers have taken the unprecedented step of voting for an indefinite and uninterrupted strike that will paralyse the justice system across England and Wales.