The Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland said last week the funds would go towards criminal advocates and solicitors, recognising the long hours spent preparing cases, including reviewing digital evidence. The money will fund: new payments for reviewing unused material; additional payments, on an hourly rate, for advocates where there are exceptionally high volumes of prosecution evidence; increased payments for preparation of cases that fall when a plea is given in the first hearing; and new payments for solicitors for their work ahead of sending cases to the Crown court.
Ministers have also confirmed that an independent review of the criminal legal aid market will begin later this year.
Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: ‘This money is desperately needed and long overdue for criminal legal aid barristers, who do crucial work in the public interest and, having been badly hit by years of cuts, have suffered drastic loss of work during the pandemic.
‘We are pleased that, at last, barristers are paid for work they are obliged to do to prepare cases properly for court. Nonetheless, the rates of pay must be revisited as part of the wider independent review, which we look forward to engaging with, to ensure the sustainability of this vital provision. Without further support from the government we fear that this great public service will disappear.’
Martin Rackstraw, criminal litigation partner at Russell-Cooke, said the additional funding ‘sounds impressive, but it is far too little and far too late.
‘Legal aid lawyers working in criminal defence have not seen an increase in payment rates for almost 20 years, and in many areas of their work, rates have been significantly reduced. As a result, lawyers are leaving criminal work as it becomes financially unviable. This announcement will do almost nothing to reverse this trend.
‘If the government is serious about access to justice it will need to ensure that legal aid is properly and fairly funded.’
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