UK
The Guardian view on the barristers’ strike: justice is on their sideEditorial
The underfunding of legal aid for more than a decade has undermined a vital pillar of the welfare state
Criminal defence barristers protest outside parliament.
‘The next Conservative government should finally
acknowledge the crisis and start to put it right.'
Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Sun 4 Sep 2022
The lasting damage done to healthcare by a decade of unnecessary austerity became brutally apparent when Covid struck in 2020. The ability of the NHS to respond to its greatest challenge was badly undermined by the legacy of years of cuts and the concurrent crisis in social care. Less thematised has been the disastrous impact of cuts on the functioning of the legal system. As criminal barristers in England and Wales begin an indefinite strike this week over legal aid funding, following intermittent walkouts since June, the next Conservative government should finally acknowledge the crisis and start to put it right.
The starving of cash from a service that protects the human right to a fair hearing is a national scandal. As a result of cuts and a failure to keep pace with inflation, some rates are now effectively lower than in the 1990s. The median pay of junior criminal barristers is a paltry £12,200 in the first three years of practice. A duty solicitor, called out to a police station in the middle of the night to represent an arrested suspect, is paid a miserly flat fee of £80 however many hours are worked.
Unsurprisingly, 22% of junior barristers have abandoned the profession since 2016, and the Law Society predicts that within five years there may be insufficient criminal lawyers to represent suspects entitled to free legal advice. The contrast with civil law, where newly qualified lawyers working in the City can earn far in excess of £100,000 a year, is stark.
The Ministry of Justice, which has refused to formally negotiate with the barristers, has proposed a 15% uplift in fees – an offer that it says is in line with the conclusions of the criminal legal aid review (Clar), chaired by Sir Christopher Bellamy. The Criminal Bar Association has asked for 25% and for payments to be backdated to include cases caught up in the massive backlog that has built up. Until a resolution is found, the wheels of criminal justice will grind to a virtual halt and thousands of victims of crime, as well as defendants, will be left in limbo for years to come. An estimated 1,300 cases, including 300 trials, will be disrupted each week. For victims of serious crime such as rape, this represents a cruel dereliction of duty by the state.
Predictably, the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has sought to pile the blame on the lawyers. Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Raab accused barristers of “holding justice to ransom”. The reality is that, since the Cameron government moved in 2014 to slash legal aid costs and cut defence lawyers’ fees by nearly 10%, Conservative governments have delivered dysfunctional criminal justice on the cheap to the point that the system has broken down. In his review, Sir Christopher said that a 15% rise in fees was the “minimum necessary as the first step in nursing the system of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect”. That is a damning assessment that should shame the ministers responsible.
This is not a dispute about the appropriate level of reward for “fat-cat lawyers” defending the powerful. Legal aid was first introduced as part of the postwar welfare state. It made legal assistance a right, when previously lawyers had been expected to provide advice for free, leading to a predictably patchy service.
Duty solicitors, who are paid through legal aid, were introduced in 1984 amid concerns that illegitimate police pressure on suspects was leading to miscarriages of justice. They defend the rights of some of the most vulnerable in society – people with mental health problems, people at risk of losing their liberty, their home or their right to live in Britain. This area of the law should adequately remunerate those who work within it. It has been criminally underfunded.
The lasting damage done to healthcare by a decade of unnecessary austerity became brutally apparent when Covid struck in 2020. The ability of the NHS to respond to its greatest challenge was badly undermined by the legacy of years of cuts and the concurrent crisis in social care. Less thematised has been the disastrous impact of cuts on the functioning of the legal system. As criminal barristers in England and Wales begin an indefinite strike this week over legal aid funding, following intermittent walkouts since June, the next Conservative government should finally acknowledge the crisis and start to put it right.
The starving of cash from a service that protects the human right to a fair hearing is a national scandal. As a result of cuts and a failure to keep pace with inflation, some rates are now effectively lower than in the 1990s. The median pay of junior criminal barristers is a paltry £12,200 in the first three years of practice. A duty solicitor, called out to a police station in the middle of the night to represent an arrested suspect, is paid a miserly flat fee of £80 however many hours are worked.
Unsurprisingly, 22% of junior barristers have abandoned the profession since 2016, and the Law Society predicts that within five years there may be insufficient criminal lawyers to represent suspects entitled to free legal advice. The contrast with civil law, where newly qualified lawyers working in the City can earn far in excess of £100,000 a year, is stark.
The Ministry of Justice, which has refused to formally negotiate with the barristers, has proposed a 15% uplift in fees – an offer that it says is in line with the conclusions of the criminal legal aid review (Clar), chaired by Sir Christopher Bellamy. The Criminal Bar Association has asked for 25% and for payments to be backdated to include cases caught up in the massive backlog that has built up. Until a resolution is found, the wheels of criminal justice will grind to a virtual halt and thousands of victims of crime, as well as defendants, will be left in limbo for years to come. An estimated 1,300 cases, including 300 trials, will be disrupted each week. For victims of serious crime such as rape, this represents a cruel dereliction of duty by the state.
Predictably, the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has sought to pile the blame on the lawyers. Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Raab accused barristers of “holding justice to ransom”. The reality is that, since the Cameron government moved in 2014 to slash legal aid costs and cut defence lawyers’ fees by nearly 10%, Conservative governments have delivered dysfunctional criminal justice on the cheap to the point that the system has broken down. In his review, Sir Christopher said that a 15% rise in fees was the “minimum necessary as the first step in nursing the system of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect”. That is a damning assessment that should shame the ministers responsible.
This is not a dispute about the appropriate level of reward for “fat-cat lawyers” defending the powerful. Legal aid was first introduced as part of the postwar welfare state. It made legal assistance a right, when previously lawyers had been expected to provide advice for free, leading to a predictably patchy service.
Duty solicitors, who are paid through legal aid, were introduced in 1984 amid concerns that illegitimate police pressure on suspects was leading to miscarriages of justice. They defend the rights of some of the most vulnerable in society – people with mental health problems, people at risk of losing their liberty, their home or their right to live in Britain. This area of the law should adequately remunerate those who work within it. It has been criminally underfunded.
Criminal barristers prepare for indefinite strike over legal aid
Escalation of action follows ministers’ refusal to agree to 25% increase in fees as backlog grows to 60,000 cases
Analysis
Those working on cases in England and Wales say they have been left worse off by changes to the system
Why are criminal barristers striking?
Barristers working on criminal cases say they have seen deep cuts to their income after government changes to the legal aid system.
Many have quit publicly funded legal aid work, leading to “legal aid deserts”. Barristers who remain say they can no longer survive on the fees and that the criminal justice system is almost at a standstill.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said a government offer of a 15% uplift in fees, which was the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review, was insufficient and would not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts.
What is legal aid?
Introduced by Clement Attlee’s government in 1949, it is a budget used to pay for legal advice for anyone arrested and charged who does not have the means to pay for it themselves. It is also used to help some claimants fight civil cases.
When were the changes made?
Many criminal barristers have blamed changes introduced under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government with the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
How has the government responded to the strike threat?
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, who is on leave until Thursday with his family in Surrey, has not met the CBA since members embarked on industrial action in April, but junior ministers have met the group regularly.
On Monday the justice minister Sarah Dines said the strike would be “irresponsible”.
Who will be affected by the strike?
If hearings or trials cannot take place because there are no barristers to represent defendants, there will not be any trials in which criminals are sent to prison or those who are innocent are acquitted.
Victims, like defendants, will be left in limbo, unsure when they will see justice.
Aren’t lawyers supposed to be well paid?
Lawyers who work in areas such as private corporate law can expect to make £100,000 a year from very early on in their careers.
But criminal barristers are not paid as well as many people assume. The median salary for a criminal barrister in the year 2019-20 was £79,800, according to an independent review conducted by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC.
New criminal barristers can take home as little as £9,000 once costs, including transport, are factored in, while some barristers say the time they spend preparing cases means their hourly earnings are below the minimum wage.
Barristers with zero, one or two years of practice were paid a median of £25,100 before expenses and a net figure of £18,800 after expenses.
Bellamy, a former judge, concluded last December that the criminal justice system needed an extra £135m a year immediately to halt the exodus of younger legal aid barristers, who receive as little as £12,200 per annum.
On 30 June, the government announced an initial increase to criminal legal aid fees, coming into force in September 2022.
What will be the political consequences of the strike?
The first day of the strike, 5 September, is also the day the new prime minister is expected to take office after the resignation of Boris Johnson.
The action follows rail and tube strikes in July and August by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, Aslef and Unite.
The Communication Workers Union has announced industrial action by post office workers on 26, 27 and 30 August. BT and Openreach workers will stage further strikes in a dispute over pay.
Escalation of action follows ministers’ refusal to agree to 25% increase in fees as backlog grows to 60,000 cases
Barristers in England and Wales are frustrated that the
justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has refused to meet.
Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Media
Haroon Siddique
Haroon Siddique
Legal affairs correspondent
Sun 4 Sep 2022 14.00 BST
Criminal barristers in England and Wales will begin their first indefinite strike on Monday after the government failed to meet their demand to raise legal aid fees following years of cuts.
Before this year, criminal barristers had only walked out for a day and a half in 2014 before a resolution was reached in a dispute over legal aid.
But industrial action that began in April has gradually escalated as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has refused to agree to an immediate increase to legal aid fees of 25%, offering only 15%.
The Criminal Bar Association says its members’ real earnings have fallen by 28% since 2006 and that the 15% rise will not be felt for years because it only applies to new cases from the end of September. There remains a backlog of about 60,000 cases to be completed.
Kirsty Brimelow QC, the chair of the CBA, said: “Government policies on toughness on crime and supporting victims are meaningless without the required proper investment in criminal barristers who deliver the justice.
“As criminal barristers start their historic, last resort, indefinite action, it is not too late for the secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor to change his legacy.
“Criminal barristers have stopped soldiering on through downtrodden criminal courts. They have stopped watching vulnerable people bounced into trials in 2024 with hands clasped in prayer that there will be anyone left to prosecute and defend.
“This is not a ‘world-class justice system’ as set out as the vision of the Ministry of Justice. It is not even a functioning justice system.”
The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has accused striking barristers of letting victims down and driving the backlog of cases up.
But the CBA said that in the three months to 31 March, before criminal barristers began their industrial action, 6,734 trials were delayed, including 1,907 deemed ineffective trials – those that do not go ahead at the last minute – the highest figure in eight years of official records.
This included more than 200 cases where there was no prosecution or defence advocate available on the day a trial was due to start, according to the CBA’s analysis.
Advertisement
The 4,827 trials vacated – in advance – from court lists was the most in any quarter for seven years and 1,568 more trials were delayed than concluded over the period, the CBA said.
The CBA says it is striking to prevent the complete collapse of the criminal justice system and has expressed frustration that Raab has refused to meet to discuss its demands.
On Tuesday, striking barristers are planning to gather on the steps of crown courts in every region of England and Wales.
When the indefinite strike was announced last month, the justice minister Sarah Dines said it was “an irresponsible decision that will only see more victims face further delays and distress”.
The MoJ says the 15% fee increase will add about £7,000 to a typical barrister’s annual earnings.
Criminal barristers in England and Wales will begin their first indefinite strike on Monday after the government failed to meet their demand to raise legal aid fees following years of cuts.
Before this year, criminal barristers had only walked out for a day and a half in 2014 before a resolution was reached in a dispute over legal aid.
But industrial action that began in April has gradually escalated as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has refused to agree to an immediate increase to legal aid fees of 25%, offering only 15%.
The Criminal Bar Association says its members’ real earnings have fallen by 28% since 2006 and that the 15% rise will not be felt for years because it only applies to new cases from the end of September. There remains a backlog of about 60,000 cases to be completed.
Kirsty Brimelow QC, the chair of the CBA, said: “Government policies on toughness on crime and supporting victims are meaningless without the required proper investment in criminal barristers who deliver the justice.
“As criminal barristers start their historic, last resort, indefinite action, it is not too late for the secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor to change his legacy.
“Criminal barristers have stopped soldiering on through downtrodden criminal courts. They have stopped watching vulnerable people bounced into trials in 2024 with hands clasped in prayer that there will be anyone left to prosecute and defend.
“This is not a ‘world-class justice system’ as set out as the vision of the Ministry of Justice. It is not even a functioning justice system.”
The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has accused striking barristers of letting victims down and driving the backlog of cases up.
But the CBA said that in the three months to 31 March, before criminal barristers began their industrial action, 6,734 trials were delayed, including 1,907 deemed ineffective trials – those that do not go ahead at the last minute – the highest figure in eight years of official records.
This included more than 200 cases where there was no prosecution or defence advocate available on the day a trial was due to start, according to the CBA’s analysis.
Advertisement
The 4,827 trials vacated – in advance – from court lists was the most in any quarter for seven years and 1,568 more trials were delayed than concluded over the period, the CBA said.
The CBA says it is striking to prevent the complete collapse of the criminal justice system and has expressed frustration that Raab has refused to meet to discuss its demands.
On Tuesday, striking barristers are planning to gather on the steps of crown courts in every region of England and Wales.
When the indefinite strike was announced last month, the justice minister Sarah Dines said it was “an irresponsible decision that will only see more victims face further delays and distress”.
The MoJ says the 15% fee increase will add about £7,000 to a typical barrister’s annual earnings.
Why criminal barristers are striking over legal aid funding
Analysis
Those working on cases in England and Wales say they have been left worse off by changes to the system
Junior criminal barristers hold placards outside the Old Bailey during
strike action in June.
Photograph: Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock
Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to strike indefinitely from 5 September, the same date the new Conservative leader and prime minister will be announced.
Home affairs editor
Mon 22 Aug 2022 Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to strike indefinitely from 5 September, the same date the new Conservative leader and prime minister will be announced.
Why are criminal barristers striking?
Barristers working on criminal cases say they have seen deep cuts to their income after government changes to the legal aid system.
Many have quit publicly funded legal aid work, leading to “legal aid deserts”. Barristers who remain say they can no longer survive on the fees and that the criminal justice system is almost at a standstill.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said a government offer of a 15% uplift in fees, which was the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review, was insufficient and would not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts.
What is legal aid?
Introduced by Clement Attlee’s government in 1949, it is a budget used to pay for legal advice for anyone arrested and charged who does not have the means to pay for it themselves. It is also used to help some claimants fight civil cases.
When were the changes made?
Many criminal barristers have blamed changes introduced under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government with the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
How has the government responded to the strike threat?
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, who is on leave until Thursday with his family in Surrey, has not met the CBA since members embarked on industrial action in April, but junior ministers have met the group regularly.
On Monday the justice minister Sarah Dines said the strike would be “irresponsible”.
Who will be affected by the strike?
If hearings or trials cannot take place because there are no barristers to represent defendants, there will not be any trials in which criminals are sent to prison or those who are innocent are acquitted.
Victims, like defendants, will be left in limbo, unsure when they will see justice.
Aren’t lawyers supposed to be well paid?
Lawyers who work in areas such as private corporate law can expect to make £100,000 a year from very early on in their careers.
But criminal barristers are not paid as well as many people assume. The median salary for a criminal barrister in the year 2019-20 was £79,800, according to an independent review conducted by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC.
New criminal barristers can take home as little as £9,000 once costs, including transport, are factored in, while some barristers say the time they spend preparing cases means their hourly earnings are below the minimum wage.
Barristers with zero, one or two years of practice were paid a median of £25,100 before expenses and a net figure of £18,800 after expenses.
Bellamy, a former judge, concluded last December that the criminal justice system needed an extra £135m a year immediately to halt the exodus of younger legal aid barristers, who receive as little as £12,200 per annum.
On 30 June, the government announced an initial increase to criminal legal aid fees, coming into force in September 2022.
What will be the political consequences of the strike?
The first day of the strike, 5 September, is also the day the new prime minister is expected to take office after the resignation of Boris Johnson.
The action follows rail and tube strikes in July and August by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, Aslef and Unite.
The Communication Workers Union has announced industrial action by post office workers on 26, 27 and 30 August. BT and Openreach workers will stage further strikes in a dispute over pay.
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