Criminal barristers begin strike in row over legal aid fees

theguardian.com:

Criminal barristers in England and Wales are to begin a strike over legal aid fees on Monday, as they warn the profession is facing an “existential crisis” because of inadequate funding.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said the offer of a 15% uplift in fees, which was the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review (Clar), is insufficient after swingeing cuts – and will not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts.

It says incomes have fallen nearly 30% over the last two decades and specialist criminal barristers make an average annual income after expenses of £12,200 in the first three years of practice, driving 22% of junior criminal barristers to leave since 2016.

Barristers participating in the strike on Monday spoke of being paid less than the minimum wage for court hearings when travel and hours spent preparing are factored in – and not at all when hearings are cancelled.

Mira Hammad, who is based in Liverpool, and was called to the bar in 2019, said: “The criminal justice system is falling apart. Cases aren’t going ahead because there aren’t enough barristers, there aren’t enough judges, there’s not enough court resources.

“As a criminal barrister you can’t earn enough, so I do inquest work as well as crime. If I was doing solely crime I would not be able to earn a living. It’s unsustainable for anyone involved in the system.

“The fact that there’s no funding in the system means that it’s also an incredibly stressful and frustrating job to do. You don’t get paid well and you’re constantly having to work within a system that is just completely dysfunctional.”

The walkout is the first by criminal barristers since 2014, until now the only time they have gone on strike. That too was over