James Cartlidge

Criminal cases in courts across England and Wales face further disruption as barristers enter a second week of strike action.

The walkouts began last week in a long-running dispute over Pay and conditions.

Members of The Criminal Bar Association have rejected a proposed 15% fee rise, saying some junior barristers currently make less than the hourly minimum wage.

But ministers say a typical criminal barrister would get £7,000 a year more.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) is asking for a 25% rise in Pay for legal aid work, representing people who could not otherwise afford lawyers.

The government says median earnings before expenses for criminal barristers in 2019-20 were £79,800, although it admits junior barristers often earn a fraction of this.

The CBA's four weeks of action escalates to a three-day walk-out This Week , increasing by One Day a week to a five-day strike from 18 July.

Rallies on Monday will be held outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, plus crown courts in Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool.

Barristers say last week's two-day strike saw eight out of 10 cases at London's Old Bailey disrupted, and walk-outs at other high-profile crown courts, including Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol.

Courts in England and Wales already, with delays to More Than 58,000 cases recorded by HM Courts and Tribunal Service in April.

Ministers say this figure is coming down, due to government initiatives - But say The Strikes will lead to more delays and more people waiting for justice.

" Our energetic efforts to tackle the courts backlog are working But The Strike action by criminal barristers threatens All That progress, despite the very generous Pay offer on The Table , " said Justice Minister James Cartlidge .

" The typical criminal barrister will earn an extra £7,000 from September, so I urge The Criminal Bar Association to accept this offer, to stop victims having to wait longer for justice. "

But the CBA blames the backlog on a 28% cut in legal aid fees over The Past decade, resulting in barristers leaving the sector, with their numbers down a quarter compared to five years ago.

" There are simply too few Criminal Justice barristers to prosecute, to defend and even to provide the judges the government relies on and The Public expects to be there, to crack a record backlog and ensure victims of crime and The Accused are not left in agonising limbo, " said a CBA spokesperson.

" The Criminal Justice system has been grinding to a halt for A Number of years, not because of us But because the government has simply mismanaged The System and underfunded it considerably, " said CBA chairman Jo Sidhu .

The CBA says its own analysis of government figures suggests More Than 200 trials were postponed at The Last minute between January and March this year, before any industrial action, because of a shortage of barristers.

Solicitors working in the Criminal Justice system have told The Bbc they face similar problems.

" We believe The Years of underfunding have lead to a crisis in the Criminal Justice system, " said Hashem Puri, president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association.

" Large numbers of barristers and criminal solicitors are leaving The Profession because of the low Pay . . Our members are considering taking similar action and joining The Bar in days of action. "

Source of news: bbc.com