The Council of The Bar of Ireland recommends further withdrawal of service to criminal members
Escalation will result in three days of action across July – in response to a lack of progress on pay restoration
The Council of The Bar of Ireland will today be formally notifying Government of the planned withdrawal of service by criminal law practitioners nationwide on the following dates: Tuesday, July 9th, Monday, July 15th, and Wednesday, July 24th.
The Council of The Bar of Ireland met last night and agreed to issue a recommendation to its members who are criminal law practitioners, to again withdraw service on a number of dates in July.
The planned withdrawal is an escalation on the unprecedented action which was taken by barristers all over the country last October 3rd with the aim of seeking an independent, meaningful, time-limited and binding mechanism to determine the fees paid to criminal barristers by the Director of Public Prosecutions and under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Scheme.
Fees paid by the State to criminal barristers were, at the time, more than 40% below 2002 levels in real terms, following a range of cuts applied during the financial emergency, despite a Government commissioned review in 2018 acknowledging that the reversal of the cuts was justified given the level of reform and flexibilities delivered by the profession.
A 10% restoration of fees was subsequently announced in Budget 2024 last October, representing an unwinding of the 10% cut that was uniquely applied to barristers in 2011. However, even after this 10% was restored, the full range of FEMPI-era cuts that were applied across the public sector, continue to apply to the profession, and the unilateral breaking of the link (in 2008) to public sector pay agreements has yet to be restored.
When announcing Budget 2024, Government also committed to a review process looking at the structure and level of fees paid to criminal barristers, through which the Council’s request for a further unwinding of the cuts applied to the professional fees of criminal barristers, and restoration of the link with public sector pay agreements, would be considered.
However, this process has not yet even begun, and this has led to growing frustration amongst criminal law practitioners. The Council of The Bar of Ireland consulted with members over the last number of weeks, culminating in a General Meeting on Monday, at which the overwhelming view of those present was that further action should be recommended until this longstanding issue is finally resolved.
Sara Phelan SC, Chair of the Council of The Bar of Ireland, said;
The Council has at all times made clear, both to Government and to our members, that we would be willing to allow a period of time up to June 30th, 2024, for the review proposed by the Minister for Justice in October 2023 to be completed.
In light of the fact that this review has not yet even commenced, frustration has been growing amongst practitioners. We are simply looking for fairness. We have been seeking pay restoration for eight years.
A Government commissioned review in 2018 acknowledged that the reversal of the cuts imposed on barristers following the financial emergency in 2008 was justified given the level of reform and flexibilities delivered by the profession. Yet, barristers continue to be treated differently to others in the criminal justice system and indeed to society at large.
We sincerely regret having to take this action again in furtherance of a mechanism to determine fees, and we will work with our colleagues in the criminal justice system to minimise the impact on the most vulnerable people. In the meantime, we remain available to engage with Government – the ball is in their court,”
Seán Guerin SC, Chair of the Criminal State Bar Committee, said;
It is highly regrettable that we have been left with no choice but to take this course of action. It has been acknowledged in Government that there is ‘no good reason’ why fees of criminal barristers shouldn’t be restored, yet eight months on from a commitment to establish a review process, no meaningful progress has been made.
The flexibility delivered by barristers over a number of years has enabled significant and valuable reforms to be implemented in the operation of the criminal justice system to improve the experience of victims, their families and vulnerable witnesses, to improve administrative efficiency and enable financial savings by the Office of the DPP, the Courts Service and other state agencies, and to save the time and effort of individual members of the public serving as jurors.
There is no good reason for failing to effect pay restoration in return for delivery of these efficiencies and improvements. The targeting of the Bar in this way represents a fundamental threat to the integrity of the criminal justice system.
It has consequences for recruitment and retention at the Criminal Bar and this is already creating issues which, if not addressed, will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the administration of criminal justice and the public good,”
The Council of The Bar of Ireland will today be formally notifying Government of the planned withdrawal of service by criminal law practitioners nationwide on the following dates: Tuesday, July 9th, Monday, July 15th, and Wednesday, July 24th.
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