By David Young-
Hundreds of barristers in the Uk have today embarked on indefinite strike action over legal aid funding.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed a 15 percent rise fees, 0 percent less than the 25 percent demanded by The Criminal Bar Association, including for for payments to be backdated to cover backlog cases.
An estimated 1,300 cases, including 300 trials, will be disrupted each week obstructing the wheels of justice , whilst the barristers across the country continue their wrangling with the government.
Victims of crime seeking justice will just have to bear the brunt of the whole saga until some workable agreement iis arrived at. Multiple serious cases including rape, murder, drug dealing, and potential miscarriages of justice, will suffer delays for unspecified periods of time due to the strikes.
On Tuesday, Brimelow and Alejandra Llorente Tascon, co-chair of the Criminal Bar Association Young Bar sub-committee, will give evidence to the House of Commons justice select committee on the strike action and the government’s reaction, as well as the impact of the action on the court system.
Before the evidence session, barristers will gather outside courts across the country to vent their frustrations through this protest. The CBA has insisted that the gatherings are not ‘picket lines’ but ‘legitimate demonstrations in front of court buildings in support of CBA members’ actions’.
Brimelow said: ‘Government policies on toughness on crime and supporting victims are meaningless without the required proper investment in criminal barristers who deliver the justice.’
‘As criminal barristers start their historic, last resort, indefinite action, it is not too late for the secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor to change his legacy.
‘This is not a “world-class justice system” as set out as the vision of the Ministry of Justice. It is not even a functioning justice system. The door, however, remains open MoJ for ministers including the secretary of state for justice to come and meet the senior leadership of the CBA.’
The CBA revealed that its last direct meeting with the justice secretary was last November, before the publication of the Bellamy review recommending a minimum £135m a year ‘as the first step in nursing the of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect’.
Tomorrow, Brimelow and Alejandra Llorente Tascon, co-chair of the Criminal Bar Association Young Bar sub-committee, will give evidence to the House of Commons justice select committee on the strike action and the government’s reaction, as well as the impact of the action on the court system.
The strikes are a blow to the Conservative government, which ought to appreciate the importance of maintaining a healthy legal system. Given the huge amount of money thrown into supporting the Ukraine war with Russia and money spent on other public services, it beggars belief that the legal system is suffering a dire lack of funding.
This problem will automatically be inherited by Liz Truss’s government, which must find a way to resolve the growing crisis affecting the courts.