3PB backs Criminal Bar Association's indefinite strike action in September

23rd August 2022

Yesterday, 80% of the members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted to go on an indefinite, uninterrupted strike in England and Wales from 5 September. This overwhelming vote to escalate the action - started in April - will see criminal barristers refusing to take on publicly funded criminal defence cases.

It is clear that the Government’s response remains insufficient to deal with the current crisis in the criminal justice system. This view is endorsed by the Law Society. Talk again of criminal barristers as "irresponsible" in the face of a dire funding crisis and 58,000 case backlogs in the criminal courts seems to "be unhelpful at best" and "studiously ignores the reality of a recklessly-underfunded criminal justice system." It also ignores virtually all of the recommendations from the independent review conducted by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC who concluded last December that the criminal justice system needed an extra £135m a year immediately and condemned the “years of neglect” by urging: “I see no practicable alternative to properly funding, and reinvigorating, criminal legal aid”, and warning that “absent a substantial increase in funding, there is a high risk that the system will simply be unable to cope”. Sir Christopher’s review also recommended an immediate increase in advocates’ fees of 15% as a bare minimum, one of the many recommendations the Government has chosen to ignore.

The crime group at 3PB has always endeavoured to provide the highest level of service to those who instruct us, both in court and out. We have done this whilst watching how years of underfunding and neglect by successive governments have eroded working conditions at the criminal bar, increased the stresses affecting us individually and collectively, and diminished the desire of young and talented barristers to practice in crime. We take the view that a strong independent criminal bar is an essential part of upholding the rule of law, and of protecting the rights of citizens, victims and defendants. The Criminal Justice System is in a state of crisis which cannot be ignored.

For these reasons, many of the crime group feel that in order to protect the future of our profession, and the integrity and quality of the criminal justice system and all who are affected by it, we have no option but to follow the CBA. Accordingly, from Monday 5th September, many 3PB crime group members will be taking no new instructions (which includes no returns) for criminal defence work and will not be attending court.

We understand that this is likely to cause inconvenience to those who instruct us, for which we can only apologise, but we can assure everyone that we are only adopting this position as a last resort. Our clerks have been and will continue to work tirelessly to deal with the consequences of adopting this approach.