Strike watch - Who is on strike today.

[SueEllen]

Oh wow - "Represent yourself!"

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...in-legal-first

A woman accused of perverting the course of justice in a murder trial has been told she must represent herself in court because there is no available barrister, in what is thought to be a legal first.

A trial over the killing of Jobari Gooden, 27, who was stabbed outside a Peckham barbershop last December, is under way at Southwark crown court.


Mamadou Faal has been charged with murder, and three others are charged with perverting the course of justice. One of them is Elishah Anderson, who has pleaded not guilty. She was unhappy with her barrister and was told he would not be able to continue representing her after she expressed her dissatisfaction.


However, due to industrial action, no other barrister can accept the case. With no replacement found, Judge Peter Rook QC has told Anderson, 40, that she must represent herself.

[TheDude]

Poisoned I hope?

I support them sticking it to this vile government.

[vetran]

My dyslexic mate always wanted to be a barrister, and now he's finally achieved his dream.


He's got a job pouring coffee in Starbucks

[xoggoth]

Poisoned I hope?

[TheDude]

I purchased ice creams for the ASLEF and RMT pickets at my local station.

I'd do the same for barristers if they had a visible presence.

[ladymuck]

My understanding is that someone working on legal aid case work ends up earning less than minimum wage and the 15% increase won't come into effect until 2023/24 (which is where the reference to it not applying to the backlog comes in).

[SueEllen]

Today it is criminal barristers.

You may not feel any sympathy but they are the people who use to ensure when you got burgled your case went to Court.

I say "use" because there aren't enough police to capture your burglar and if they do because they have admitted to 1000 burglaries, there are now not enough Courts, barristers, judges etc to hear the trial.


https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022...legal-aid-fees

Criminal barristers in England and Wales are to begin a strike over legal aid fees on Monday, as they warn the profession is facing an “existential crisis” because of inadequate funding.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said the offer of a 15% uplift in fees, which was the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review (Clar), is insufficient after swingeing cuts – and will not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts.

It says incomes have fallen nearly 30% over the last two decades and specialist criminal barristers make an average annual income after expenses of £12,200 in the first three years of practice, driving 22% of junior criminal barristers to leave since 2016.

Barristers participating in the strike on Monday spoke of being paid less than the minimum wage for court hearings when travel and hours spent preparing are factored in – and not at all when hearings are cancelled.

Mira Hammad, who is based in Liverpool, and was called to the bar in 2019, said: “The criminal justice system is falling apart. Cases aren’t going ahead because there aren’t enough barristers, there aren’t enough judges, there’s not enough court resources.

“As a criminal barrister you can’t earn enough, so I do inquest work as well as crime. If I was doing solely crime I would not be able to earn a living. It’s unsustainable for anyone involved in the system.

“The fact that there’s no funding in the system means that it’s also an incredibly stressful and frustrating job to do. You don’t get paid well and you’re constantly having to work within a system that is just completely dysfunctional.”