Criminal Bar Strike Ends
Nearly a couple of weeks ago I wrote about the offer from the Ministry of Justice to the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) that sought to get barristers back to work.
Now the CBA has voted and the results are in:
It was a close call but strike action will now be suspended from 6 p.m. today (10th October).
While it is important to respect the democratic decision of the CBA, I think there are still questions to be asked about whether this was the right move.
The Secretary of State for Justice deserves credit for coming to the table and putting forward an acceptable deal, and it is good that the wheels of criminal justice will now resume turning but that does not change the quite bleak long-term picture.
The 15% figure that was offered was said, by the government’s own independent review, to be the minimum amount required to keep the criminal justice system afloat back in 2021. However that amount has now almost been completely wiped out by inflation so the increase does not make such a huge difference in real terms.
If that is the case then it feels like the strike action was for naught. It fails to resolve some of the fundamental problems in the criminal justice system and the actual pay increase is so small that it is hard not to see barristers back in the same position in a year or two.
When a career in the criminal bar is still not an attractive prospect and attrition rates remain high in the profession, it is right to remain worried for the future.
No podcast this week because I am still working my way through the mammoth judgment that the Supreme Court handed down in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA but in the meantime feel free to check out my recent bonus episodes: the recent Madeleine McCann decision from the European Court of Human Rights or the Attorney General’s reference to the Court of Appeal in relation to political protests.
Make a difference today,
Marcus