Barristers picketed courts in Manchester again as strike action continues for a fourth week, with lawyers arguing the system is 'failing the public'. Criminal defence lawyers will walk out every day this week as their protest over legal aid fees escalates.
Legal aid is the public fund which pays lawyers to represent people who are unable to afford legal representation themselves. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents barristers, have asked for an immediate increase of 25 per cent to legal aid fees.
The Government has offered a 15 per cent rise. The continuation of industrial action comes as the impasse between the Government and the CBA shows no sign of ending.
This is the first week when barristers have vowed to strike every day of the working week. In the previous three weeks lawyers have walked out on two, three and four days out of five.
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About two dozen barristers braved the heatwave to picket outside Manchester's Civil Justice Centre, before walking around the corner to the stairs outside Manchester Crown Court. As well as pay, those protesting say another key concern is the current state of the justice system.
Figures show a backlog of about 58,000 cases waiting to get to court across the country, with victims and defendants potentially waiting years for justice. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic but the CBA allege that it was a problem before coronavirus. They claim the number of 'sitting days', the days when judges work in court, were reduced by Government to cut costs.
There are also fears that legal aid rates may dissuade junior barristers from staying in criminal law, and that there could be a talent gap in future years as trainees are tempted away by more lucrative areas of the law. Cases have had to be adjourned in recent months because of a lack of criminal lawyers to represent the prosecution and defence, say the CBA.
"We are here to make it clear that the system is failing," Nina Grahame QC said. "It is failing the public, and it is failing us.
"Everybody hopes that they never have to rely on us, or the system to help them. Everybody hopes they won't be a victim of crime, and that they won't be wrongly accused or have to face justice.
"But when that does happen, people need help from properly qualified people working in a fully funded system, and that is not happening." According to the CBA the median income for junior barristers is £12,200, which is below minimum wage. Barristers' incomes have reduced in real terms by 28 per cent over the last two decades, they say.
A sticking point in the dispute had been whether any increase to legal aid funding could be applied to cases already within the system. The Government had previously said any rise would only apply to new cases, but the CBA claimed victory and said the Ministry of Justice now accepts any rise could be added to older cases.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab previously said: "It is regrettable that The Criminal Bar is striking, given only 43.5 per cent of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option. I encourage them to agree the proposed 15 per cent pay rise which would see a typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year. Their actions will only delay justice for victims."
The Ministry of Justice said it was proposing to increase investment in legal aid by £135 million a year. It said the Government is investing £477 million into the justice system to reduce backlogs in the courts, and has also removed the cap on how many days courts can sit.
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