[Blog] Legal aid, declining representation, and barristers ‘strikes’

Since March 2022, members of the criminal bar have been engaged in industrial action on an escalating scale. The action was sparked by the Ministry of Justice’s reaction to the recommendations of the Independent Criminal Legal Aid Review (ICLAR). In reporting for ICLAR, Sir Christopher Bellamy QC recommended a minimum 15% increase in legal aid fees paid in criminal cases. In his report, Sir Christopher wrote “[i]t is difficult to see how this situation can be sustained,” going on to say “[i]f the providers of criminal legal aid defence were to fail or be substantially weakened, the system as a whole would grind to a halt.” The proposal to increase fees is widely regarded as insufficient to ensure the long term sustainability of legally aided practice in criminal law, despite the government’s views that barristers will receive on average £7000 more per year than prior to the increase. However, in the face of an 8.75% fee cut in 2014, plus decades of stagnation in legal aid fees, the legal profession argues that a 15% increase is inadequate to ensure its longevity.