Criminal barristers in England and Wales will head back to work after voting to accept a pay offer from the Government and end long-running strike action.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) ballot saw 57% of members who took part vote in favour of the deal, meaning defence barristers will accept new instructions in cases from 6pm on Monday and be back in court from Tuesday.
Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis said he is “glad that barristers have now agreed to return to work” and described the development as a “breakthrough”.
But the CBA warned the criminal justice system still “sits on a cliff edge” and threatened to walk out again if the Government does not stick to its pledge.
There are also fears the deal could prompt a walkout by solicitors after the body which represents them, the Law Society of England and Wales, said the dispute on criminal legal aid funding was “far from over”.
CBA chairwoman Kirsty Brimelow KC said: “The criminal justice system remains chronically underfunded. The onus is on government to properly fund it.
“Barristers’ acceptance of this deal is a first step in working with government for long-term reform. If the deal falls short in implementation, the CBA will ballot its members again on taking action.
“It should never have got to the stage of barristers taking action to force more funding into criminal legal aid.
“The CBA looks forward to a new and different approach by government to funding of barristers who deliver justice in the criminal law courts. We see this deal and its acceptance as a start.”
Barristers with the CBA have been taking part in a continuous walkout after a row with ministers and officials over fees and conditions intensified.
Prior to that, they were striking on alternate weeks and refused to carry out certain types of work.
The ballot was held after Mr Lewis proposed further reforms to Government-set fees for legal aid advocacy work – to provide representation in criminal cases for defendants who cannot afford a lawyer – during talks.
The offer represents “further investment of £54 million in the criminal bar and solicitors”, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.
Some 2,605 criminal barristers took part in the ballot, which asked if they accepted the Government’s offer and voted to suspend action, with 1,488 (56.74%) voting yes and 1,117 (43.26%) voting no, the CBA said.
Mr Lewis said: “My priority in these first few weeks as Lord Chancellor has been to end CBA strike action and reduce delays for victims, and I’m glad that barristers have now agreed to return to work.
“This breakthrough is a result of coming together and restarting what I hope to be a constructive relationship as we work to drive down the backlog and ensure victims see justice done sooner.”
There had been anger that a planned 15% fee rise barristers were due to receive from the end of September, meaning they will earn £7,000 more per year, would only apply to new cases and not those already sitting in a backlog waiting to be dealt with by the courts.
But now the MoJ says the fee increase will apply to the “vast majority of cases currently in the crown court” as well as provide a pay rise for solicitors, with further measures due to be announced in the coming weeks.
This is despite the department previously saying it had “repeatedly explained” to the CBA that backdating pay would require a “fundamental change” in how fees are paid, adding: “That reform would cost a disproportionate amount of taxpayers’ money and would take longer to implement, meaning barristers would have to wait longer for payment.”
It is understood the move requires changes to the digital system used by the Legal Aid Agency to make payments and, while officials are confident there is a solution available, they fear it may be difficult and expensive.
The pay offer came after High Court judges ruled that delays to criminal trials affected by the ongoing strike may not be a good enough reason to keep defendants in custody on remand if the dispute continued beyond the end of November.
Law Society president Stephanie Boyce called for parity in pay for solicitors and fair funding across the criminal justice system, adding: “The justice minister may think he has got one problem off his table but there are bigger problems coming his way as this dispute continues. This is another example of a government U-turn making a bad situation worse.
“Our members will see that disruptive action achieves results that hard evidence and constructive engagement do not.”
