In an escalation of industrial action over salary that began in April, barristers in England and Wales have begun an indefinite, continuous strike.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) walkout is anticipated to exacerbate the existing court backlog, with tens of thousands of pending cases.
The CBA desires a 25 percent increase in legal aid fees for indigent defendants’ representation.
Sarah Dines, minister of justice, deemed the escalation irresponsible.
However, Kirsty Brimelow, chair of the CBA, states that this is an attempt to “prevent the complete collapse of the criminal justice system.”
Although the full-scale strike officially begins on Monday, CBA members have staged intermittent walkouts since the end of June, escalating to week-long strikes every other week in August.
On Tuesday, barristers will gather in support of the strike in front of the Supreme Court in London, as well as at courthouses in Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and Leeds.
Each month, at least 7,000 criminal cases are presented to Crown Court justices. Consequently, the historically high backlog and delays will increase if barristers strike.
A judge at the Old Bailey warned just over a week ago that serious murder trials could be delayed for a year if they do not begin on time due to the strike.
Northampton and Luton, to name only two locations, are scheduled to commence or continue murder trials.
Ministers claim that the strike is reckless, but criminal barristers counter that they are the ones truly concerned with the health of the justice system.
Their numbers are decreasing from year to year, as indicated by the data.
370 scheduled trials, for which victims, defendants, and witnesses had prepared, were postponed in the first three months of this year due to a lack of prosecution and defense attorneys, and 48 due to a lack of judges.
The government has proposed a 15% increase beginning at the end of September, which the CBA has rejected because it would neither take effect immediately nor apply to existing cases.
The report states that years of underfunding have degraded the criminal justice system, with some junior barristers earning less than the hourly minimum wage and more than a quarter leaving the profession within the past five years.
“Barristers have ceased persevering through overburdened courts,” said Ms. Brimelow, who urged “appropriate funding in barristers who administer justice.”
“As envisioned by the Ministry of Justice, this is hardly a “world-class justice system.” There is no functioning justice system “She said.
Since 2019, the court backlog in England and Wales has nearly doubled, reaching 58,973 cases at the end of June.
According to Ministry of Justice statistics, between 27 June and 5 August, the strikes disrupted 6,235 court proceedings, including 1,415 trials.
The Ministry of Justice rejects applying the fee increase to existing cases, arguing that doing so would “cost an excessive amount of taxpayer money.”
Ministers state that a typical criminal lawyer will earn £7,000 more per year under the proposal, adding that the median earnings for criminal barristers in 2019-20 were £79,800 before costs, although young barristers typically make a fraction of this.
Ms. Dines reaffirmed the government’s stance that the approach to a full-scale strike “is a reckless decision that will only result in more victims experiencing additional delays and suffering.”
