Barristers could agree to mass walk out with justice system “at breaking point”

Crime barristers have threatened to walk out and leave the criminal courts in chaos in protest at a new legal aid payments scheme, with many barristers feeling overwhelmed and at “breaking point”.

The 4,000 members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) could bring the justice system to a standstill because they are effectively being forced to work unpaid for hours on end, a situation that leaves many struggling to make ends meet financially. The current legal aid system does not pay barristers for their time spent going through the hundreds of pages of evidence necessary in complex criminal cases, meaning that a career at the criminal Bar is increasingly unviable financially.

The latest changes to advocates’ graduated fee scheme will reduce barristers’ incomes even further, following years of successive cuts to the legal aid system – as The Guardian reports, the Ministry of Justice has suffered the deepest cuts of any government department since 2010, which have effectively confiscated the rights of people on low incomes to access justice and forced over 220 courts to close.

The CBA is balloting its members on whether to take direct action in the form of a mass walk out, while the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association and the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association have expressed solidarity and are planning to coordinate action against legal aid cuts, as well as disclosure problems and racial inequality in the justice system.

Former Conservative MP and barrister, Jerry Hayes told colleagues: “We have to be united and we are going to have to bring the justice system to a halt”.

Angela Rafferty QC, chair of the CBA, outlined her colleagues’ concerns: “The levels of remuneration are unacceptable for many kinds of complex, important cases. There is no payment at all for disclosure or the vast quantities of evidence likely to be served on us in cases going forward.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice defended the government’s position. He said: “It is incorrect that these changes represent cuts to the barrister fees overall. In fact they will ensure that pay better reflects the actual work being done by defence advocates in the crown court.”