Barristers protested outside Liverpool Crown Court for the second consecutive week over "unsustainable" cuts to pay and conditions.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents practising members of the Criminal Bar in England and Wales, rejected the Government's offer of a 15% pay rise which was set to come at the end of September. The Ministry of Justice argued the funding would see barristers earn an extra £7,000. However industry leaders said the new package would fail to cover years of expenditure cuts.
According to the Lawyer, a legal business magazine, the top 2% of barristers earn £1m a year while more than one in ten take home less than £30,000. The walkouts, which took place in Derby Square as well as across the country, have brought criminal proceedings to a halt.
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Nina Graham QC told the ECHO: “The reality is this, the income of criminal barristers over the last 16 years has been cut by 28%. It has reached a point now which is unsustainable.
“The ones who are leaving are the junior barristers. In the first few years of practice they are earning £12,200 a year. We are trying to support a system for them.
“There are barristers who earn good private fees in commercial work, [but] barristers who work in the criminal justice system don’t earn that type of money. It’s reached a tipping point… buildings are crumbling, the system is failing, delays to trials are now colossal."
Ms Graham said reaction to the strikes had been “incredibly positive”, with many of the public “appalled” by the earnings of the junior barristers.
Kirsty Brimelow QC, vice chair of the CBA, reiterated many of Ms Graham's points. She told the ECHO: “Junior barristers are anonymising online to say ‘I would love to practise at the criminal bar but I cannot afford to do so.’ During the pandemic barristers’ incomes collapsed. The junior barristers earn less than the minimum wage.
“The legal profession is a highly skilled profession. It’s unprecedented that you now trials listed but at the last moment it has to be adjourned because there are insufficient lawyers.
The ECHO spoke to two junior barristers protesting outside Liverpool Crown Court today. Mira Hammad, 31, from West Kirkby said: “At the moment the profession is unsustainable, it’s not just about the fees, it's about investment in the system as a whole.
"Regularly there are courts booked for hearings where there is no barrister.” Niamh Ingham, 27, from Manchester said: “None of us want to be here [protesting]. We picked this job because we care. The strike goes against everything we stand for."
Industrial action began on Monday, June 27 and was scheduled to last at least four weeks. The CBA confirmed three days of strike action would take place this week followed by four days next week and five the week after.
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