Haldane and LSWU statement on ongoing collective action by barristers in the Crown Court

The Haldane Society and Legal Sector Workers United welcome the overwhelming vote by the Criminal Bar Association to take action if the government does not commit to a substantial increase of additional funding for the Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme.

With 94% voting in favour of taking collective action by not accepting returns under the AGFS scheme, it is important that representative bodies remain committed to the mandate of the members, until a serious and immediate increase in remuneration is conceded by the Ministry of Justice.

The action commenced on Monday 11 April 2022 and is in its second week at the date of writing.

A case is “returned” when an advocate is unable to cover it owing to unavoidable other commitments. Owing to the necessity of double or reserve listing cases in the Crown Court, advocates are often forced to return cases. “No returns” would mean that other advocates decline to cover those cases. This will have a substantial impact on the functioning of the Crown Court.

The recent government proposal of an additional £135 million a year into the Criminal Legal Aid sector is too little, too late. We feel that many of the cuts to legal aid in all practice areas could have been avoided had there been a strong collective position taken by legal workers in previous years.

We therefore encourage the Criminal Bar Association to liaise with all relevant bodies to discuss joint industrial actions. Unionisation and collective action are the best way of fighting for better working conditions. Many of our members are in unions such as United Voices of the World (Legal Sector Workers United branch), UCU and Unite the Union. We encourage all workers in the legal sector who have not already joined a union to do so. Collectively we are powerful.