Barristers walk out in protest at legal aid cuts

Criminal lawyers across the UK walked out of court on Monday (December 6) in protest at cuts to the legal aid system.

‘Non-attendance’ by barristers was widespread at courts in cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Winchester, Bristol and Cardiff.

This is the first time in the history of the Criminal Bar that the organisation has taken such action.

Current government proposals are to cut £220 million from the annual £2 billion legal aid budget and are due to come into force in April. This includes cutting fees in complex, high-cost cases by 30 per cent and in other Crown Court work by up to 18 per cent.

The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), Nigel Lithman, said: “The protest on Monday is the first in the history of the Criminal Bar.

That it is necessary in order to try and prevent the slide of the Criminal Justice system into chaos and the Criminal Bar into oblivion make it a sad day.

“Those taking the action wish to send a message to the Lord Chancellor that this, along with cuts to their pay, is unacceptable.”

Mr Lithman added that the public would soon be seeing cases collapsing or lawyers refusing to take cases because of the lack of support.

“There has been an accumulation of 30 per cent cuts since 1997 and that has now put the Criminal Bar in the state it is.

“There are cases of murder trials that have collapsed because of them being inadequately prosecuted. Secondly, the barristers will not work at rates that take them to around £13,000 taxable income. That is someone with a law degree and a Masters in public international law, why would they work at those rates?”

Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan said: “No one wants to see disruption in our courts but this unprecedented action shows how relations between the legal profession and David Cameron’s government have collapsed as a result of policies which could restrict access to our courts to only those who can afford it.

“The Lord Chancellor swears an oath to uphold the law of the land, so for [Justice Secretary] Chris Grayling to have lost the confidence of the legal community he relies on to deliver on this oath is extremely worrying.”

Justice Minister Shailesh Vara MP said: “We live in difficult economic times and the total legal aid bill is some £2 billion a year which is one of the most expensive in the world; after the cuts have gone through it will still be about £1.5 billion, one of the most expensive in the world.

“The legal aid bill has to be sustainable. I am confident that once the cuts have gone through that those qualifying will have first-rate legal representation.

“We are living in difficult economic times and lawyers are not immune from the economic climate.”

According to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures, the average Criminal Bar barrister earns £84,000; 1,200 barristers earned more than £100,000 per year, and six earn more than £500,000.

However, the CBA disputes the figures and says that barristers earn an average of between £25,000 and £35,000 each year.

A MoJ spokesperson said: “We entirely agree lawyers should be paid fairly for their work, and believe our proposals do just that. We also agree legal aid is a vital part of our justice system – that is why we have to find efficiencies to ensure it remains sustainable and available to those most in need of a lawyer.”