More than 200 criminal barristers across Northern Ireland have gone on strike in protest at delays to payments by the Department of Justice.
The action impacts all criminal courts in the province including the Crown Court, Magistrates’ Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and legal representation at extradition hearings and parole hearings.
It comes despite efforts by the Stormont department to fast track some payments, a move which a statement from Criminal Bar Association said was “merely a sticking plaster which does not achieve the necessary change in departmental policy and does not fix the structural problems associated with long overdue payments”.
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At the heart of the dispute is a complaint by barristers that they can wait up to six months for payment following the end of a legal aid case. The Bar Council has claimed the Department of Justice is failing in its duty over reasonable payment terms.
They said they had been left with no other option but to strike after repeated warnings to flag system failures to the Permanent Secretary and others in the department.
Chair of the Bar Council, Moira Smyth KC, said that warnings that Access to Justice is reaching a tipping point have now been realised.
“The Department needs to do more than merely recognise the validity of our arguments,” she said. “They need to be both accountable and responsible for ensuring that they adopt a policy that will see payments for work done made within a reasonable timeframe.”
She said the stalemate at Stormont does not justify the situation.
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“The lack of a Justice Minister is no excuse for this worsening issue. No other jurisdiction across the 海角视频 and Ireland has chosen to address Legal Aid budget pressures by financially punishing the lawyers who provide a crucial public service.
“This untenable budget management policy of the DoJ places the very future of publicly funded legal services at risk and weakens access to justice. The Bar Council is prepared to challenge the generational harm that will inevitably be inflicted upon our justice system.”