header-logo header-logo

Criminal Bar could refuse returns from next month

02 March 2022
Issue: 7969 / Categories: Legal News , In Court , Profession , Criminal
printer mail-detail

Barristers to vote on no returns policy

Ballot papers have been issued to criminal barristers, asking them to vote on a ‘no returns’ policy from 11 April.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) set out the two options for its members this week. ‘Returns’ are where another barrister takes over the case if there’s a diary clash. The ballot ends at one minute to midnight on 11 March.

Option A is to refuse all return work under the advocates graduated fee scheme (AGFS) from 11 April, unless the government agrees to: a 25% per annum increase in remuneration under the AGFS; pay for written work as recommended by the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid (CLAR); create an effective pay review body; expedite the timetable for consultation on the CLAR recommendations; pay a second brief fee payment for s 28 YJCE hearings; and index link AGFS payments.

Option B is to wait for the government’s response on CLAR in the week of 14 March, followed by a consultation until end of June 2022, and any relevant statutory instruments being implemented by end of September.

The CLAR recommended an increase of at least 15% in fees.

A survey of CBA members in January found 94% in favour of action if the government did not set out its proposals to expedite reform by 14 February. However, this was ‘simply ignored’ by the government.

Jo Sidhu QC, CBA chair, said: ‘The overall timetable for the reform of criminal legal aid funding set by government takes us to October 2022 with no prospect of an increase in fees until 2024.

‘Neither criminal barristers nor criminal solicitors can afford to wait that long. We have already paid a heavy price in attrition from our ranks for the inexcusable failure to deal post-haste with the impact of diminishing real incomes, and we are both facing decimation if critical intervention is not forthcoming.’
Issue: 7969 / Categories: Legal News , In Court , Profession , Criminal
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll