LONDON (Bywire News) - Now, the professional body representing criminal barristers has slammed Boris Johnson’s deputy as one too – four times, as it happens. It comes amid ongoing chaos in the criminal justice system. And what’s more, barristers are now threatening to refuse work under Legal Aid.
The Tories have been devastating Legal Aid for years. Since 2010/11, successive governments have cut legal aid spending by 10% a year. The pandemic brought additional challenges – causing huge disruption in the justice system, compounded by government cuts in this area too. And now, the Tories are looking to reform Legal Aid again. But a professional body is furious.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) is kind of like a trade union for criminal barristers. It represents around 2,500 of those who work in the profession. A browse of the CBA website shows that it doesn’t hold back with its views on government reforms. And currently, it’s got Legal Aid and Raab in its sights.
There’s been an ongoing war of words between the CBA and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for weeks. This is because over three years ago the government commissioned a review of Legal Aid. The review’s authors published it in December 2021. As BBC News reported, in the context of Legal Aid for criminal justice:
“In the report, former judge Sir Christopher Bellamy QC supports many of the concerns of lawyers - and urges ministers to find a minimum of £135m to stem an exodus of lawyers from criminal justice and to help tackle the current backlog of 59,000 cases in the crown court system”.
So, what’s the government doing about it? Dragging its heels, by all accounts.
It said it would publish its response to the review by March this year. But the CBA said this is too slow. It has been calling for the government to act quickly. As the chair of the CBA Jo Sidhu QC told the Law Gazette:
“Government must now take the urgent action necessary to resolve the funding crisis that has left the criminal justice system on its knees and driven out hundreds of our colleagues who could no longer sustain a career on pay that has declined in real terms over the last 25 years”.
BBC News reported that criminal barristers working under Legal Aid can earn as little as £250 for a 13-hour day.
The CBA warned the government that if it didn’t act by 14 February, it would ballot members over direct action. So, Raab (who’s also justice secretary) hit back in an article for the Times. He accused the CBA of planning “strike action”; of “demanding” the government “ignore… public law principles” by publishing its response to the review early, and claimed governments have been increasing barrister’s pay. But the CBA was having none of it. It took to Twitter to say so, calling Raab a liar four times.
In a thread, it said:
“We have not asked the government to infringe any public law principles. This is a lie. We have asked for a response to a report MoJ commissioned, and have had since the end of November”.
The CBA also said:
“We have been patient, and engaged, for nearly 4 years. Any suggestion to the contrary is a lie”.
And it noted that:
“Pay has not been boosted. This is a lie. There has been a real-terms reduction for 25 years”.
Plus, the CBA said:
“We are not proposing strike action. This is a lie. We propose withdrawing labour on cases "returned to us" when counsel is no longer available due to work commitments i.e where our hardworking & outstanding value for the taxpayer props up a system which only functions with us”.
So, it’s now a waiting game. It’s unlikely the MoJ and Raab will give in to the CAB’s just and reasonable demands. The current government has persistently attacked the overall legal system and those that work in it (“lefty lawyers” being its go-to insult). What’s more, its right-wing populist agenda for law and order has been dominant for years.
But if the CAB does take action – it will be interesting to see how the government responds. Because it will be up against some of the most qualified and skilled legal minds in the UK; credentials that the government certainly doesn’t have.
(Writing by Steve Topple, editing by Klaudia Fior)