Criminal Barristers across the country began striking last week over disputes of pay and working conditions. Having faced relentless cuts to funding over decades, Criminal Barristers in chambers nationwide are being forced out of the profession due to low pay, and it’s impacting junior members most of all.

The protests have today moved over to Liverpool’s Crown Court, where Criminal Barristers have taken to the steps to picket the poor conditions and cuts to legal aid. Among the Barristers protesting is Nina Grahame QC, Criminal Barrister at Manchester’s Garden Court North Chambers.

Nina says:

“We’re here today because the Criminal Bar are taking a stand against cuts to the criminal justice system that have been going on for decades but have reached a point now where the system is failing dramatically, and most importantly for us it’s failing our Junior Barristers. Most of the junior members of the profession, who are the future of the criminal justice system, are leaving in droves. We’ve lost 40% of our junior Criminal Barristers in the last year because they can’t afford to stay.

“If you’re a junior barrister in the first few years of your practice you’ll probably be taking home in Criminal Law, a median income of about £12,200 per year, and that is, when you calculate for expenses as well, about half the minimum wage. These junior practitioners can’t survive and they’re leaving. What’s happening is there are fewer and fewer Criminal Barristers who both prosecute and defend so that we’re there for everybody in the community, those numbers are dropping, trials are being adjourned at the last minute because there’s no one there to prosecute or defend them, and you can imagine the pressure and stress that this places on defendants, complainants, their families, witnesses, the whole system is falling apart. We need to stand up there and make it clear to everybody in the community that as Criminal Justice Barristers, we are not Commercial Barristers commanding huge juicy fees, we do not drive big posh cars, the junior members of our profession can’t afford a car, they can’t afford to look forward to a time when they can afford a house or have a family, because they are earning so little.

Nina continues:

“It has to change, there’s been an independent review, it came in last year and reported back that there must be an immediate, minimum increase of 15% with further funds to be made available and further reviews to be built in as an urgent measure to save this system. That has not been done. The Government has offered 15% for representation orders that will be made later this year, for which we won’t get paid until 2023/2024. Most of the junior practitioners in my Chambers cannot afford to wait that long. They’ve ran out of funds, they’ve ran out of savings, they’ve ran out of overdrafts. It’s urgent, we don’t want to take this action, we want to be doing our jobs. We’re taking a stand because somebody has to, and they have to do it now.”

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) is asking for a 25% rise in pay for legal aid work, representing people who could not otherwise afford lawyers. The shortage of Criminal Barristers has created a huge backlog of cases, there are reportedly more than 58,000 cases waiting to be heard as of April this year, according to HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

This strike comes as part of the four-week action that has been planned, including a three-day walk-out this week, before escalating to a five-day strike by the 18th July.

Rebecca Templeman, Director & Head of Crime & Prison Law at Broudie Jackson Canter, says:

“The criminal justice system has been mismanaged through underfunding for many years. We as a firm agree that action needs to be taken to halt the decline and ensure the sustainability of the criminal justice system”