Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted to suspend their strike action and accept a government deal on Legal Aid.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) began industrial action in April which escalated in the summer to an all-out strike, over fees paid for defence work in crown courts.
Last week, CBA members were balloted on a fresh government deal including a 15 per cent increase in Legal Aid fees which would be applied to the existing 60,000-strong backlog.
The vote split the profession, with some arguing forcefully for a return to the negotiating table, saying the fee increase has been largely wiped out by inflation and accusing the government of “nebulous” promises on future funding arrangements.
But the CBA announced on Monday morning that 57 per cent of voting members have backed the deal, suspending the strike from 5pm tonight.
“The Criminal Bar has voted to accept the proposal made by the Government”, it said on Twitter. “The Criminal Bar Association has a long history of respecting and unifying around the majority vote.”
Accepting there will be “disappointment and even bitterness” among some, the CBA said “goodwill of criminal barristers is exhausted” and warned that the strike would restart if the government failed to implement the deal on offer.
The dispute was sparked by the previous government’s slow response to an independent review of Legal Aid which compared the criminal justice sector to a patient in need of resuscitation and told ministers to act immediately with a minimum 15 per cent fee increase.
Former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab presided over a ten-month delay and refused to meet with CBA leaders. His replacement, Brandon Lewis, began talks within days of taking up the post and a possible deal was announced two weeks ago.
“Since starting this job five weeks ago, my priority has been to end this strike action and reduce delays for victims, and I’m glad that barristers have agreed to return to work”, said Mr Lewis in a statement.
“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.”
CBA leaders had urged members to accept the deal, saying they needed to be “realistic” about the possibility of achieving its demand of a 25 per cent fee increase “in light of the current economic climate”.
Thousands of court hearings and trials have been delayed by the strike action, while the crown court backlogs stands at around 60,000 according to the latest government figures.
In the ballot, 1,488 CBA members voted in favour of the deal while 1,117 voted against.
