Strike by barristers disrupts thousands of court hearings

More than 6,000 court hearings were disrupted in the first 19 days of a strike by criminal barristers, data shows, as they walk out for another week.

- LIZZIE DEARDEN

Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have escalated their action since June, over the government rates paid to defend people who cannot afford legal representation.

Justice secretary Dominic Raab has not met the association and ministers have refused to negotiate on key demands, which stem from a government-commissioned review of legal aid. Defence barristers are walking out on alternate weeks, and are being balloted on a complete, indefinite strike that would start on 5 September.

Data released by the Ministry of Justice showed that the first 19 days of action, which took place between 27 June and 5 August, caused 6,235 court cases to be disrupted, including 1,415 trials, across England and Wales. Among the trials delayed as a result of the strike was that of three men accused of stabbing a 16-year-old boy to death in London. They were due to go on trial at the Old Bailey last month but the case was delayed until June 2023.

In a separate case involving an alleged neo-Nazi, at Swansea Crown Court, a jury had to be discharged because several members could not sit for the extra three weeks needed to work around the strike action. A judge told the court he had no choice but to set a new date in the "unusual circumstances", adding: "Because of the industrial action we can't fit this in. We have done our best."