The practitioners will refuse to work on 27 June, the first ‘day of action’, with barristers gathering at 10am with placards outside the Old Bailey in London, and Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Cardiff Crown Courts. This will be repeated on every Monday when protests are taking place.
The scale of the walkouts will then escalate by an extra day each week until, by late July, full ‘weeks of action’ are taking place on alternative weeks. A total of 2,055 criminal barristers voted in a Criminal Bar Association (CBA) ballot. The results, announced this week, show 81.5% (1,675 barristers) supported days of action, of which 43.5% of the total (894 barristers) chose the most disruptive option (days of action combined with ‘no returns’ and refusing new instructions).
In a message to members, CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC (pictured), and vice-chair, Kirsty Brimelow QC said: ‘Without immediate action to halt the exodus of criminal barristers from our ranks, the record backlog that has crippled our courts will continue to inflict misery upon victims and defendants alike, and the public will be betrayed.’
Criminal barristers have been taking action by ‘refusing returns’ for the past two months, but have not had their demands met.
The MoJ has proposed a 15% increase, the minimum recommended by Sir Christopher Bellamy’s criminal legal aid review, to be introduced in October. However, the CBA say members would not benefit from the increase until at least late 2023. It is asking for a 25% increase and wants the government to ‘at least’ implement the minimum 15% increase with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, the Law Society has warned MoJ proposals for defence solicitors purport to be a15% increase but in fact amount only to a 9% increase. Justice minister James Cartlidge set out plans this week to implement the increase by the end of September.
Law Society president I Stephanie Boyce said: ‘Rates paid by the state to criminal defence firms have been stuck in a time warp since the 1990s.’
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