Barristers are on strike throughout England and Wales over pay and working conditions.
Each day of the strikes will affect more than 1,000 cases, according to the Criminal Bar Association (CBA).
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab stated that strikes would “only delay justice for victims” given the 58,271 pending cases in the courts.
The deputy chair of the CBA, Kirsty Brimelow QC, stated that the proposed 15 percent pay increase would not occur until the end of 2023.
By then, she told the BBC’s Today program, it would be too late to help and would not be sufficient to stem the exodus of junior barristers.
Mr. Raab urged barristers to accept the proposed 15 percent pay increase, which would result in an average annual salary increase of approximately £7,000.
Ms. Brimelow, speaking from the picket line outside Manchester Crown Court on Monday.
She stated that the issue was “caused by the government, not by attorneys.”
The government’s criminal legal aid program pays for both solicitors and barristers to ensure indigent suspects are properly advised and represented from their police interview through their trial.
Outside of several prominent courts, including the Old Bailey in London and the Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol Crown Courts, barristers have staged demonstrations.
Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, the most senior judge in England and Wales, has warned those joining picket lines that they could face disciplinary action for misconduct if they fail to appear in court.
What do criminal defense attorneys earn?
A solicitor would earn approximately £250 in 13 hours or almost £20 per hour.
The Legal Aid rules set limits on fees
Some barristers claim that the time they spend preparing cases for court brings their hourly earnings below the minimum wage.
The Law Society has mapped the nationwide decline of criminal solicitors.
Comparatively, the website Checkatrade reports that the average daily rate for a plumber is now nearly £350, although regional variations exist.
Lawyers who practice in other areas, such as private corporate law, can anticipate earning £100,000 per year very early on in their careers.
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Chris Daw, a barrister, and author told that junior barristers work for a “pittance” and, in some cases, for nothing if cases are adjourned.
He stated that the proposed 15 percent pay increase would not “touch the sides” and will be “wiped out by inflation” by the time it is implemented.
He stated that if nothing changes, the strike could last until August or beyond.
In the last decade, the number of criminal justice attorneys – both barristers who appear before judges in court and solicitors who instruct them – has decreased, with many claiming they cannot make a living by accepting legal aid cases.
Not enough to cover my expenses.
Claire Stevenson, a junior criminal barrister, says she learns which court she will be attending the day before, and any case could involve reading hundreds of pages of documents.
“You may have to spend the entire night reading… to ensure that you are acting in your client’s best interests”.
Criminal barristers are compensated for their preparation and the trial, in addition to per-day rates.
She asserts, however, that the lack of compensation is due to a large amount of unseen work: “People believe you’re ready to go on the day of the trial, but you’re not.”
A few years ago, when she began her career, she was paid approximately £12,000 per year. Since then, she has begun working in other areas of law because her previous salary “wasn’t enough to pay my bills.”
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According to the CBA, 40 percent of junior criminal barristers left the profession in a single year, and more than a quarter of specialist criminal barristers – approximately 300 – left in the past five years.
According to Ms. Brimelow, 567 criminal trials, including 60 sexual offense cases, we’re unable to proceed due to a lack of barristers to prosecute and defend.
According to HM Courts and Tribunal Service, there was a backlog of 58,271 cases as of the end of April.
CBA chairman Jo Sidhu QC stated that a lack of barristers is causing “increasing misery to victims and those accused,” as they are sometimes forced to wait for years.
Since 2006, barristers’ real earnings have decreased by an average of 28 percent, and juniors in their first three years of practice earn a median income of just £12,200, which is below the minimum wage.
Mr. Raab stated that the strikes were “regrettable” and that only 43.5% of CBA members chose the “most disruptive option.”
More than 81 percent of the 2,055 CBA members who participated in the vote supported industrial action, and 53.4% of those voted to refuse new cases and “return work” – taking on court hearings for other colleagues.
The planned duration of the strikes is four weeks, beginning with walkouts on Monday and Tuesday and increasing by one day per week until a five-day strike from Monday, July 18, to Friday, July 22, lasting from Monday, July 18.
