The Ministry of Justice has announced a 12% increase in criminal legal aid fees for solicitors. The announcement also states that ministers will be working with the Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association to tackle the court backlogs.
Responding to the announcement, Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:
“We are pleased to see the additional criminal legal aid funding for solicitors, which is long overdue. However, funding for the publicly funded criminal Bar has not yet met the needs of the moment. In 2023, 1 in 20 Crown Court trials was ineffective because there was no available barrister. We need to see a change not only in remuneration, but also in the unreasonable expectations placed on junior and mid-career barristers in crime, in terms of workload and unpredictable lifestyle.
“We will be feeding into the Leveson review on the structure and operational efficiency of the criminal justice system, which we hope will address this, if the government does not before.”