Lawyers are due to vote this weekend on escalating labor lawsuits over legal aid rates, as figures show that the number of cases postponed due to a shortage of lawyers has multiplied by five during the decade.
The Association of Criminal Lawyers (CBA) is voting on more than 2,400 criminal lawyers in England and Wales on action options, including the refusal of new defense instructions and possible exits. A vote for further action is likely to increase the delay by 58,271 cases in Crown courts.
Lawyers say the criminal justice system is in crisis after a 43% drop in real terms in the legal aid budget since 2004-05. Ministers have unveiled a proposed package of reforms and pay raises following an independent review by former Judge Sir Christopher Bellamy, but lawyers say there needs to be an immediate pay rise.
The ABC says many of its members are being forced to leave the criminal community after a nearly 30% drop in revenue over the past two decades. He says specialist criminal lawyers earn an average annual income after spending £ 12,200 in the first three years of practice.
Figures from the Ministry of Justice reveal that 567 court cases were postponed shortly before last year because prosecution or defense lawyers did not attend or deal with another case. This compares with 114 cases postponed for the same reasons in 2011.
Officials say Covid-19’s absences have worsened, but Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon told the House of Lords constituency committee last month that the judiciary was struggling with the drop in the number of criminal lawyers.
He said: “More and more cases are not moving forward because neither the prosecution nor the defense have been able to find a lawyer to deal with the case.” He said one factor was “the severe wear and tear of pay rates that came through legal aid.”
Criminal lawyers filed lawsuits in April over legal aid fees, refusing to cover colleagues in cases that had caused a newspaper crash or been overtaken. They are angry that the government’s proposals to increase their rates by 15% will only apply to new cases from October 2022 and not to a judicial delay that will take years to erase.
Jo Sidhu QC, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said: “Our action is aimed at correcting the deficit in the supply of criminal lawyers to help deal with the crisis in our courts. We simply need more criminal lawyers to deal with the unprecedented backlog that is paralyzing our courts and our justice system. “
Voting will open on Saturday and close next Sunday. Industrial action is likely to intensify later this month if there is support for further action.
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The Law Society, the professional body of lawyers, has also said that the government’s proposals on legal aid reform are “unfortunately inadequate” and will not reverse the damage to the criminal justice system or remove the backlog of the courts. .
Lubna Shuja, the company’s vice president, said the immediate salary needed to be increased to hire and retain criminal lawyers. “There are already counties in this country that do not have lawyers with criminal duties under the age of 35. Lawyers are fed up with the promises of ‘tomorrow’s jam’ that will never materialize,” he said.
The Bar Association says the overall package for lawyers represents a 9% pay rise compared to the 15% recommendation. Their figures show that the number of criminal legal aid companies in England and Wales has fallen from 1,861 in 2010 to 1,090 in 2021.
The Justice Department says it is increasing investment in criminal legal aid by £ 135 million a year, the largest increase in a decade, as recommended by Bellamy’s review.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The backlog of the Crown courts has diminished thanks to our decisive action and the hard work of legal professionals, including criminal lawyers, who as a result of our reforms will gain almost An additional £ 7,000 a year. “