The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) says the offer of a 15% rise in fees, the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review (Clar), is insufficient after swingeing cuts and will not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts.
It says incomes have fallen nearly 30% over two decades and specialist criminal barristers make an average annual income after expenses of £12,200 in the first three years of practice, driving 22% of junior criminal barristers to leave since 2016.
Barristers participating in the strike spoke of being paid less than the minimum wage for court hearings when travel and hours spent preparing are factored in - and not at all when hearings are cancelled.
Mira Hammad, who is based in Liverpool and was called to the bar in 2019, said: "The criminal justice system is falling apart. Cases aren't going ahead because there aren't enough barristers, aren't enough judges, not enough court resources.
This story is from the June 27, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the June 27, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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