British Barristers Lift Strike Threat After Accepting 15 Per Cent Pay Deal

The looming strike by trial lawyers had threatened to delay work to clear a backlog of some 60,000 criminal cases left following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Barristers would have joined rail, postal, port and healthcare workers taking or voting for strike action as inflation outstrips pay offers.

British barristers have voted to call off their strike after agreeing to a 15 per cent rise in legal aid fees.

Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted to accept a revised package of measures from Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis, along with his predecessor Dominic Raab's original 15 per cent pay offer.

It was unclear whether the deal would see the pay rise backdated. The government's refusal to do so was a major grievance for barristers.

CBA Chair Kirsty Brimelow said she hoped Downing Street's treatment of trial lawyers "will not be shabby moving forwards."

"This offer from government is an overdue start, Brimelow said, warning that: "Its acceptance by barristers is on the basis that it is implemented — otherwise the CBA will ballot again to lift the suspension of action."

The CBA had initially demanded a 25 per cent increase in legal aid rates, claiming that its members' incomes had fallen by 35 per cent over the last decade as funding was "pared to the bone".

The strike had threatened to delay work to clear a backlog of some 60,000 criminal cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Lewis — who also serves as Lord Chancellor, in charge of running the UK's law courts — welcomed the agreement.

“My priority in these first few weeks as Lord Chancellor has been to end CBA strike action and reduce delays for victims, and I’m glad that barristers have now agreed to return to work," Lewis said, adding that he hoped the "breakthrough" would re-start a "constructive relationship" between the state and the profession.

Workers across multiple sectors have launched or balloted for strike action since the summer as soaring inflation — now running at around 10 per cent — outstrips pay rises offered by employers.