Criminal barristers’ ‘no returns’ policy in protest at the underfunding of the justice system and low advocacy fees is ‘causing significant and widespread disruption to the listing of cases in courts’, Criminal Bar Association (CBA) chair Jo Sidhu QC has said
‘Each day, we hear multiple examples of cases that cannot proceed for want of a defence advocate, including many serious multi-handed trials which now face further substantial delays.’ The CBA is holding weekly meetings with the Ministry of Justice during the protest action.
