Criminal defence barristers were this time last year two weeks into an indefinite strike in a row with ministers over legal aid fees.
A government-commissioned review of criminal legal aid by Lord Bellamy – who is now a justice minister – recommended an immediate 15 per cent increase to fees for barristers and solicitors, as the “minimum necessary as the first step in nursing the system of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect”.
But the then justice secretary, Dominic Raab, refused to implement the recommendations fully. He limited the 15 per cent increase to new cases starting from the end of last September, so the higher fees would not apply to the backlog of 60,000-plus crown court cases, meaning that it
© Times Media Limited 2023.
Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.