Barristers have walked out for a fourth week as industrial action at courts around the country continues (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The criminal justice system is in the grip of a “national emergency” with politicians accused of playing Russian Roulette with its future, barrister told Parliament as their strike enters its fourth week.
A delegation of barristers were at the Houses of Parliament on Monday to lobby MPs and Lords on the Legal Aid dispute with government, which is causing widespread disruption in the criminal courts.
Criminal Bar Association (CBA) chair Jo Sidhu QC urged the government to take decisive and urgent action to stop increasing numbers of barristers from walking away.
“This is a national emergency and it requires a national solution, not deferment and procrastination”, he told the meeting in Parliament, accusing Justice ministers of “astonishing” levels of “negligence”.
“For a government that says law and order is at the heart of everything it does, there can’t be law and order if you neglect it to such an extent that people are left laying by the wayside.
“Is this a game of brinkmanship? Are they playing Russian Roulette with the Criminal Bar and the public? Or do they want a solution that’s sustainable into the long term?”
Barristers launched industrial action in April and resolved to go on strike last month, after their demands for immediate increases in Legal Aid fees were not met.
Five days of walkouts are planned this week, meaning thousands of trials and court hearings will not be able to take place.
Several Parliamentarians attended the meeting with barristers on Monday morning, to be told the government’s current offer of a 15 increase in Legal Aid fees must be a “bare minimum” for the future and should be applied to existing as well as future cases in the justice system – a step it has so far resisted.
“Jam tomorrow isn’t really cutting it, we need bread today”, said Oliver Heald, Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire and member of the Tory backbench justice committee who promised to question Justice Secretary Dominic Raab on the crisis at a meeting on Tuesday.
“The issue is whether money can be got into the system quickly. What’s proposed at the moment doesn’t really do that.”
Sir Bob Neill, the MP for Bromley and Chislehurst and chair of the Justice Select Committee, added: “It ought to be on the new Prime Minister’s agenda to invest in the justice system.
“The system is holistic, if one bit goes wrong it has knock-on effect on other parts of the system.”
A series of barristers gave examples to the assembled politicians of the impact of Low Legal aid fees on their work, leaving them earning below minimum wage when preparing for trials.
One said she is on the verge of leaving the criminal justice system, telling the meeting: “I had a full tank when I started the job in 2015, I am running on empty and I’m ready to leave.”
Shaun Wallace, famed for appearing on ITV’s The Chase but also a long-serving criminal barrister, said the Legal Aid crisis is impacting on diversity within the system.
“In 38 years I have seen a collapse in morale and experienced lawyers leaving because they are not appreciated and not valued”, he said.
“What will happen is the Bar will wither on the vine and die.”
Mr Sidhu said his own Chambers had lost four junior barristers in the last year, including three women and all who are ethnic minorities, warning there is a danger of the system regressing.
“It will go back to the 1950s when the entire Criminal Bar was - almost to a man - white, privately educated, went to Oxbridge, and was doing the job often because they enjoyed and not necessarily because they needed the money”, he said.
“That’s not a future this country should be looking forward to.”
In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “The current strike is now forcing victims to wait for justice, despite a generous £7,000 pay rise for the typical criminal barrister. We encourage barristers to put victims first and prevent any further delays.”
An independent review of Legal Aid fees by Sir Christopher Bellamy - now serving in the government as a justice minister - concluded at least a 15 per cent was needed and should be implemented “without delay”.
The CBA is seeking a 25 per cent increase in Legal Aid fees, and has accused the government of delaying implimenting the 15 per cent rise that is currently proposed.
Mr Sidhu said they are expecting a decision from the government this week on whether the fee increase will be applied to cases already in the system, a measure he said would help to build bridges in the feud.
“If the message doesn’t come through in the next 24 to 48 hours, I know for sure that so many more juniors, hanging on, will make an elective decision that they can’t wait any longer. They will leave”, he said.
“That’s the storm we are walking into. We need to have politicians who will make decisions and not duck.”
Protests also took place at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Winchester Crown Court, and Birmingham Crown Court on Monday morning.
Further full weeks of walkouts are planned if there is no resolution to the dispute.
