British barristers walk out in pay row

An already large backlog of cases in the legal system in England and Wales is set to grow even bigger after barristers began industrial action, in the latest development of a pay dispute that began in April.

Members of the Criminal Bar Association, or CBA, have been involved in sporadic stoppages since the spring, but have now turned to a full-blown strike, a move described by Justice Minister Sarah Dines as "irresponsible", but which CBA vice-chairwoman Kirsty Brimelow said was a last resort, to "hold up the criminal justice system from complete collapse".

When a vote of CBA members took place in August, 79.5 percent backed the escalation.

Offer rejected

The government has offered a 15 percent pay rise from the end of this month, but this has been rejected by the CBA, which said it would not take effect soon enough nor apply to existing cases.

The CBA wants legal aid fees, paid for representing defendants who would not otherwise be able to afford a legal team, to rise by 25 percent, because the organization claims that the system has been underfunded for years. The CBA said that after preparation time and travel costs, some junior barristers' income works out as being less than the hourly minimum wage, which makes problems worse as it drives many of them away from the sector.

"Barristers have had to endure collapses in their income and cuts and underfunding so that their income has decreased over 28 percent since around 2006," Brimelow told the BBC at the time of the strike vote.

CBA chairman Jo Sidhu told radio station LBC that "what we're saying to the public is unless the government does enough to reinject funds within the system, we're going to see a lot more people leaving and those victims of crime and defendants who want to prove their innocence won't see their day inside court".

Official figures showed that at the end of June, there was a backlog of nearly 60,000 cases, a figure that had almost doubled since 2019.

"Government policies on toughness on crime and supporting victims are meaningless without the required proper investment in criminal barristers who deliver the justice," Brimelow added. "This is not a 'world-class justice system' as set out as the vision of the Ministry of Justice."

CBA member Diane Mundill told the BBC she was taking action to defend the justice system and because the often harrowing nature of the work and the low pay rates "take a toll on you and your life".

"We don't get paid for our preparation, and that's not the way to treat professionals doing a professional job," she said.

"We are doing this because the criminal justice system needs support and investment. We need members to enter the criminal bar so there is a profession and a system that is sustainable," she added.