Barristers in Wales are undertaking indefinite strike action which could see hundreds of court cases delayed as they campaign for "fair pay for fair work". Cuts to legal aid by the UK Government has meant that some barristers have been earning less than the minimum wage.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) congregated on the steps of Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday morning where a statement was read out by Jonathan Rees QC, decrying the lack of investment in the criminal justice system. As of Monday (sep 5), and indefinite and interrupted strike which will see barristers refuse to attend court until the matter is resolved.
Flanked by his colleagues, Mr Rees said: "This action by the Criminal Bar Association is historic and unprecedented. It is a last resort driven by a collapsing criminal justice system criminal barristers have warned the Government about for years." He went on to say a quarter of barristers had left the criminal bar due to the lack of pay, with the annual median salary for junior barristers at £12,200.
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The CBA is asking for a 25% rise in legal aid fees but the Government has refused to budge from a planned rise of 15% from the end of September, which would see barrister earn £7,000 more per year. But the proposed pay rise would only apply to new cases and would not be made effective immediately.
Mr Rees said a review calling on the Government to implement measures which would bring legal aid "back to health after years of neglect" had fallen on "deaf ears". He added: "The Government claims to adhere to the vision of a world class criminal justice system for Wales and England, at present it cannot even provide a basic and functioning one. Government policies claiming to be tough on crime and supporting victims are meaningless without the proper investment in those agencies, including the Criminal Bar , who deliver justice.
"The profession calls us to speak for others and to fight for the most vulnerable and so we are here to fight for all those in the criminal justice system and all those who may be in it in the future. We want to be there to defend and to prosecute and to deliver justice. We want to hope and we want to see change.
"This is the time to believe change must and will finally come under a refreshed Government. We hope that the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the new Cabinet, whoever that is, will step to his or her ministerial duties and meet with the CBA leadership urgently.
"The crisis is of the Government’s making and the solution lies in the hands of the Government. The CBA remains willing to resolve the crisis as it has done all year. Until then we are doing what we are trained to do and that is to fight for justice."
Figures released by the CBA revealed in the space of a year, more than 1,000 trials across England and Wales had been postponed at the last moment due to a lack of prosecuting or defence barrister. It now takes an average of 700 days for a cases to reach trial, but victims in serious sex cases it could take up to 1,500 for their case to conclude. The current backlog of cases stands at a staggering £59,000.
Cat Jones changed her career in her 40s and became a barrister this year but she will be unable to remain in criminal law due to the low pay. Describing a typical scenario, Ms Jones said: "I was sent to do a sentencing exercise, a committal, in Merthyr Tydfil. For that piece of work I did one to two hours of prep the night before and went to Merthyr to sort it out. I got paid £150.
"Because of a technical issue in court, not of my doing, we weren’t able to do the sentencing so then the fee gets knocked down to £91, around seven hours work with travelling, hanging around, and preparation the night before I got £91. Half of that is taken up in overheads. I paid £25 for childcare that day and £6 for the train. I was left with £14.50 having done seven hours work which is not what I expected when I came to the criminal bar. I thought I would be able to make a living. If I was in that situation every day I can’t pay my bills.
Ms Jones said she would likely move to public or family law which was better paid. She added: "You do your time on the junior end and get stuff done but you need to be able to live. For someone to do a career change, I have got a house, bills to pay, a child to feed, I can’t afford to stay in the criminal bar. I have a choice, I will move over into family law and make a decent income for me to stay. Why do the same work for quarter of the pay.... It’s not unreasonable what we’re asking for, fair pay for fair work."
Barrister Emma Harris said the criminal justice system needed an "entire cash injection" due to the "dwindling population of barristers". She said: "We have lost 40% of our most junior people and without junior people and without junior people you don’t get progression through the ranks. We want good people prosecuting and defending the most serious cases but without that population going through the ranks of barristers we won’t get new judges. It’s not only having an effect on those accused of crime but victims, and witnesses
"It’s important the financial backing is there so people from all sorts of backgrounds come into the job. It’s alright if you have a spouse, partner or family who can support you but people like me who had no connection in the law, went to a comprehensive school and had state education, I had to rely on scholarships. I think it’s really important it’s a career that can allow a variety of backgrounds, if that’s not the pool judges are drawn from it will have a huge impact on justice in the future."
Tabitha Walker said she had recently joined chambers after working for the Crown Prosecution Service but despite enjoying what she does she described working in criminal law as "financially unstable". She added: "I did a defence case a few weeks ago from 9.30am to 4.30pm and when I took out everything I had to pay, tax, chambers rent and VAT, I was left with £4.30 an hour. That can’t be right."
When asked about the the prospect of a new Justice Secretary being selected in Prime Minister Liz Truss's new Cabinet, Ms Walker said: "It should be at the top of their agenda. They claim to be the party that’s tough on crime but that’s not the case if they’re not properly funding the criminal justice system."
Downing Street said the barristers’ strike was a “disappointing decision” that “will force victims to wait longer for justice”. We would urge the barristers to rethink their plans and we have set out the pay increase that’s due to come in in September”, a spokeswoman said. Asked if the government’s legal aid cuts had fuelled long times, No10 replied the government had invested £250m “to support court recovery so far” and Covid backlogs were reducing.
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