‘We’re not fat cats’, says barrister after walkout
BARRISTERS are ‘‘not fat cats’’, a Birmingham QC has argued amid ongoing strikes over pay. Industrial action spearheaded by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) continues today with hundreds of court cases disrupted.
Barristers walked out of Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, joining colleagues up and down the country in national strikes in a dispute with the Government over funding for legal aid.
The CBA has rejected a proposed 15 per cent increase to their fees and have called for a minimum 25 per cent uplift.
Speaking to the Post, Richard Atkins QC, from the city’s St Philips Chambers, addressed the perception that barristers are handsomely paid.
While a typical self-employed criminal barrister can earn upwards of £55,000, for junior barristers the median income is £12,200 a year – below minimum wage – according to the CBA.
Mr Atkins, former chairman of the CBA, said: “They are not fat cats and the problem is if we don’t have people coming into the profession then you are not going to get senior barristers able to defend people charged of the most serious charges or prosecute, because we both prosecute and defend.
“A large number of criminal judges are drawn from the Bar, so if you don’t put the resources in now and keep the system working you don’t get decent people coming in to do the job. That affects justice throughout; people can’t be represented. Of course, you are innocent until proven guilty.
“There are many, many people who come to court and are acquitted after trial because they have proper representation. If they are not coming in at the start you are not getting proper prosecutors. Then you’re not
getting the pool to draw judges from at a later stage. It goes the whole way through.”
The CBA has argued that while the 15 per cent proposed increase was the minimum recommended in a legal aid review in November last year, it would not actually come into effect until the end of next year, by which time it would be inadequate.
Mr Atkins also made reference to the timeconsuming nature of the work barristers do, particularly the sheer amount of reading required in case preparation.
He said: “It isn’t simply a case of
turning up at court and thinking about it there and then.
“We have thousands and thousands of pages to read in the bigger cases. You have got to think about your case, you have got to think about what the pitfalls are, what the good points are and think about how you ask questions.
“Becoming a good advocate isn’t something that happens overnight. People work for many, many hours. The system we have got at the moment isn’t remunerating people for a lot of work they do.”
The CBA has warned around a quarter of criminal barristers have
left the profession in the last five years because they could not afford to stay.
Mr Atkins stated the justice system was in ‘‘meltdown’’ because of the current backlog of cases, while he warned the issue over legal aid funding ‘‘posed the most serious threat to the British legal system in decades’’.
In response to the walkouts, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: “It’s regrettable that The Criminal Bar Association is striking, given only 43.5 per cent of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option. I encourage them to agree the proposed 15 per cent pay rise which would see a typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year. Their actions will only delay justice for victims.”
The industrial action is set to continue on selected days for the next four weeks.
Inadequate fees have been a critical factor in the loss of talented professionals from the Criminal Bar Richard Atkins QC