Criminal Bar steps up action in the face of cuts

The Bar has rallied in support of its criminal law colleagues, as more sets join the action against fee cuts imposed by changes to the advocates’ graduated fee scheme (AGFS).

Criminal law barristers have been rejecting new defence work under the AGFS scheme since 1 April in protest at reforms to the scheme which came into force on the same day.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said a first day of action is currently being planned, and it is setting up circuit sub-committees for its members and will hold another Heads of Chambers meeting to consider ‘both the progress of the action and the possibility of escalation’. It will also meet with solicitor groups to decide how both camps can support each other, and is consulting the Northern Ireland Criminal Bar Association who had a nine-month dispute over legal aid fees in 2015/16, which was resolved by mediation.

Dozens of chambers are now rejecting defence work. A statement from 5KBW said: ‘If we do not take a stand now, we become complicit in permitting our justice system to collapse’. 9 Gough Square said: ‘The underfunding of the criminal justice system has led to a system that is broken; we must act now.’

In a message to barristers this week, Criminal Bar Association chair Angela Rafferty QC said: ‘The dismal state of criminal justice can be improved immensely by relatively modest amounts of investment.

‘The swingeing cuts to the department for the last decades are entirely unjustified and have brought the system to its knees. That is what this action is about.’

Rafferty thanked solicitor colleagues for their support and ‘for the valiant efforts they have made this week when their cases were listed, and they did not have counsel.

‘They too are completely undervalued, mistreated and underfunded.’

An Old Bailey murder trial in which a man, Kema Salum, is accused of murdering his wife was the first to be affected last week when his solicitor told the court she had contacted more than 20 chambers but could not find a barrister prepared to take on the case.

An MoJ spokesperson commented: ‘Any action to disrupt the courts is unacceptable and we are taking all necessary steps to ensure legal representation is available for defendants in criminal cases.

‘We greatly value the work of criminal advocates and will continue to engage with the Bar over their concerns regarding the AGFS scheme. Our reforms are fairer, and replace an archaic scheme under which barristers billed by pages of evidence.’

Chris Dale, founder of the eDisclosure Information Project, reviews the Secret Barrister’s Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, which describes the state of the criminal justice system, in this week’s NLJ.