Barristers have now joined the UK’s strike action over legal aid funding which will cripple court cases next week.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said their members are to walk out next week in England and Wales, which will be another blow for the government.
Jo Sidhu QC and Kirsty Brimelow QC, from the CBA, said, “what is at stake is the survival of a profession of specialist criminal advocates and of the criminal justice system which depends so critically upon their labour.”
A statement continued, “Without immediate action to halt the exodus of criminal barristers from our ranks, the record backlog that has crippled our courts will continue to inflict misery upon victims and defendants alike, and the public will be betrayed.”
This will create a court backlog as judges are already struggling to get through the criminal cases which stalled during the pandemic.
Barristers will walk out from 27 and 28 June which will increase by one day every week until a five day strike from 18 to 22 July and is intended to last for four weeks.
Mark Fenhalls QC, chairman of the Bar Council, said, “Each barrister who has voted is understandably angry and upset.
“Members of the criminal Bar have been feeling mistreated, undervalued and overwhelmed for a decade or more.”
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