Barristers in full wigs and gowns walked out of Bristol Crown Court this morning and went on strike, as part of a dispute with the Government over legal aid and cuts to the criminal justice system.
Lawyers formed a picket line outside Small Street courthouse as part of a co-ordinated action with colleagues in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester, as well as at the Old Bailey in London.
They are all members of the Criminal Bar Association, and say that the Government's funding cuts to the criminal justice system has seen them being expected to work longer hours for less money, with many leaving the profession and moving to other legal jobs as a result.
Read more: Mayor Marvin Rees slammed for Bristol Clean Air Zone delays
The first day of the strike saw the unprecedented scenes of barristers in wigs and gowns forming a picket line. The strike action is intended to last for four weeks, with walk-outs today and tomorrow, Tuesday, June 28. Each week they will walk out for one more day, culminating in an entire five-day strike from Monday, July 18 to Friday, July 22.
Speaking outside Bristol Crown Court, barrister Kannan Siva said: “We have made our case over and over again to Government but our warnings have fallen on deaf ears. They have no solution to saving the criminal justice system.
“Indeed, the crisis is entirely of their making and the public will not stand for their excuses or inaction any longer. This is a national crisis, and it must be dealt with as a national emergency. Our action today will bring public attention to the threat that is faced by the criminal justice system. We take this action in the name of citizens of this country because it is their justice system that we are determined to protect.
At the heart of the dispute is the funding cuts made by the Government to all parts of the Criminal Justice System, which have created a backlog of nearly 60,000 cases. Barristers are paid fees by the Government to undertake prosecution or defence work, but those fees have decreased while the amount of work has increased. Junior criminal barristers are assigned cases, but say they get minimal fees for the lengthy work involved - and if a case is adjourned or the hearing they have prepared for doesn't happen, they aren't paid.
“We will not sit idly by and watch its destruction. We will do what we have been trained to do, which is fight for justice. We became barristers because we believe in justice. Our system exists to ensure that the guilty are punished and that the innocent are acquitted," added Mr Siva, who works at Albion Chambers.
“This can only be achieved by ensuring the system is properly funded and the brightest and the best are prepared to undertake publicly funded work. The Lord Chief Justice himself acknowledges that inadequate fees have been a critical factor in the loss of talented professionals year after year from the criminal bar and that the lack of barristers is a major obstacle to our ability to bring down a backlog of nearly 60,000 cases that has pushed the criminal justice system into meltdown.
“We have lost over a quarter of our prosecutors and defenders over the last five years – driven out of the jobs they loved because they simply can’t afford to stay," he added.
“For junior criminal barristers to be paid below minimum wage, a median income of just £12,200 a year, is not only scandalous but it will choke off the supply of the next generation of advocates – that pool of advocates that will help society and become our future judges," he said.
Home Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted a statement this morning in response to the walkout.
"It's regrettable that the Criminal Bar Association is striking, given only 43.5 per cent of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option," he said. "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," he added.
That tweet and statement was called 'a lie' by the Twitter account 'The Secret Barrister'. They said: "This is a lie, 81.5 per cent voted for this action. There is no '15 per cent pay rise on offer. There is no '£7,000 more a year'. Junior criminal barristers will remain on less than minimum wage."
"We are taking part in ‘Days of Action’, in which those of us who are instructed to defend in legally-aided criminal cases are not going into court if we have one of those cases listed. That means that if a trial is listed to begin today, the defence barrister will not be at court. If a sentence hearing is listed today, there will be no defence barrister. If there is any other kind of hearing, there will be no defence barrister. You get the picture," they said.
"We are also declining to take on any new cases. So if somebody is charged with a serious criminal offence and appears at the Crown Court for the first time after today, there will be no defence barrister available. We are also continuing not to accept “returned” cases when other barristers become unavailable.
"The Government certainly wants you to view it as fat cats jumping on the strike bandwagon. But the truth could not be more different. For one, to the extent that this is a dispute over pay, it is not something that has arisen overnight.
"The issues first arose in 2018, when criminal barristers were persuaded to suspend industrial action by a promise of a small interim adjustment to fees and a full independent review of criminal legal aid. That review was delayed and delayed and delayed and eventually published in 2021, only for Dominic Raab, by-then Justice Secretary, to sit on it until 2022, and to respond by saying that he would not do anything that would begin to address the problems until 2024.
"But it is not just about pay. It is about so, so much more. The criminal justice system has been devastated by years of cuts and chronic underfunding. Every part of the system has been slashed to the bone," they said.
Read next:
The 20 South Bristol areas where homes are being built - or are about to
South Bristol's GPs and schools won't cope with 12,000 new homes claims MP
Developers unveil plans for 555 new homes on edge of Bristol
Actor Joe Sims and mayor Marvin Rees first to recycle at new South Bristol centre
Police update after militant vegan attacks on ice cream parlour and butchers
Sign up for our new Bristol's Court Insider newsletter for the latest court and crime news - from arrests to trials and sentencings
