Barristers and solicitors walking out over proposed Government cuts to legal aid have delayed hundreds of trials and other criminal hearings today (January 6) in cities across England and Wales.
With the Criminal Bar Association saying that the lawyers are at “boiling point”, the lawyers refused to start work until 2pm this afternoon, bringing the judicial system to a standstill, particularly in London, and causing postponements to high-profile cases, such as that of Rebekah Brooks and others on phone-hacking charges.
The Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, has said that legal aid costs hard-working taxpayers too much money, costing around £2bn every year, of which half goes on criminal defence and the rest on civil cases. The Government’s proposals, being phased in from April, would cut that by £220m by cutting fees in complex, high-cost cases by 30 per cent, and in other Crown Court work by up to 18 per cent.
However, the lawyers have said that they are not prepared to work at hourly rates that are lower than the national minimum wage, saying that the hours necessary to study briefs in complex criminal cases outweigh the reward.
It has been claimed that the decision to strike could jeopardise the very fabric of the British legal system, because if barristers refuse to accept cases where the defendants are on legal aid, which has happened recently, then the right of everyone to a fair defence could be seriously affected.
The Criminal Bar Association has refuted this claim, however, saying that the strike action would not jeopardise trials on now but warning that, if the pay dispute is not resolved, trials due to start after April could be at risk.