Issue 251  16th July 2022

Ministry of Justice data published yesterday show the criminal bar’s escalated action over legal aid funding is biting hard. For seven weeks from 9 May, when criminal barristers were refusing to cover ‘returned’ cases, the proportion of hearings that were disrupted ranged from 1.6% to 2.5%. However, the figure jumped to 8.8% for the week commencing 27 June, when barristers across the country staged a two-day court walkout. Court walkouts have increased by one day each week, so future statistics should show an even higher number of disrupted hearings. Next week will see court walkouts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The latest data was revealed in a written parliamentary response. Justice minister Sarah Dines said: ‘It remains our priority to ensure that justice is served, and we encourage the Criminal Bar Association to work with us – the decrease in outstanding cases in the Crown court shows what is possible when we work together.’ Dines, who joined the MoJ just a few days ago, met Bar Council and CBA chiefs earlier this week. The CBA said it had made strong representations to the minister about its ‘entirely reasonable’ demands.

Awarding a 15% fee uplift to existing criminal legal aid cases poses no legal problems, the government has conceded following the threat of litigation. A controversial 15% fee uplift coming into force in September will apply only to new representation orders from October. The then justice minister James Cartlidge told MPs earlier this month that there were ‘huge legal questions’ about backdating the fee increase to existing work.

With the Crown court backlog hovering around the 60,000 mark, the Criminal Bar Association says its members will not see the benefit of any fee increase until late 2023 at the earliest. Mishcon de Reya was instructed to challenge the government’s position and a letter before action was sent to the Ministry of Justice earlier this month. Last night, the CBA claimed ‘legal victory’ after the government conceded there was no legal impediment to increasing fees on existing representation orders. Responding to Mishcon’s letter, the Government Legal Department said it ‘accepts the position that legal issues do not form a material impediment to increasing fees for future retained work’...

Regulations to be laid shortly introducing the fee increase will not apply to future retained work due to the ‘significant operational issues that this would entail and the financial resources it would require’, the GLD said.

A commitment to fairness for all parties is at the heart of a new Defendants Strategy, launched today by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The three-year strategy addresses areas where suspects and defendants may face challenges when involved in the criminal justice system, focusing on three priorities - mental health, youth justice and the proportionality of our decision making. A detailed action plan has also been published, which sets out practical steps to bring improvements in the support given to suspects or defendants who may face additional barriers or with additional needs to participate fully in the criminal justice process. A new guide for suspects and defendants will be launched to explain the role of the CPS so they are clear what they can expect from us at each stage of the process...

Mental health is a major theme after a CPS examination of around 400 cases in 2017 suggested that one in five involved a victim, witness, or defendant with a mental health condition. The strategy focuses on exploring how defendants with extra needs can be identified at an early stage so additional support can be offered to help them fully participate. It is recognised that youth casework is another area where defendants can be vulnerable and so efforts are being made to increase the use of expert youth specialist prosecutors. These lawyers are highly trained to understand the complexities of youth cases and make sure treatment is consistent. Proportionality in the outcomes of CPS decision-making is key, so performance is being monitored to guard against any risk of unfairness.

Court security staff have voted to go on strike in a row over pay, in the latest blow to Britain’s beleaguered justice system. Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union backed industrial action in a ballot of members, with the results announced on Wednesday.

The union said a offer from the OCS Group, which has the HM Courts and Tribunal Service contract for security at courts around England and Wales, has been rejected, and would have seen workers paid “just 27p an hour above the national minimum wage of £9.50”. “The vote was 96 per cent in favour of action on a 61 per cent turnout”, the union said in a statement.

One year after Employment Advisory Boards were established - linking business bosses to prisons to provide advice on jobs skills - the number of former offenders in work 6 weeks after release has increased by nearly half. In a further boost to the scheme, Greggs has become the latest household name to sign up – joining the likes of TalkTalk and Lotus Cars in helping governors to ensure that offenders are job-ready when they walk through the prison gate. The government is now on track to roll out boards to all 91 ‘resettlement’ prisons by spring 2023, with 50 already up and running across England and Wales.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, has extended Sir Nicholas Green’s tenure as Chair of the Law Commission from 1 August 2022 until a date three months from the announcement of the appointment of his successor.

The Commission was created by the Law Commission Act 1965 with the role of keeping under review the law of England and Wales with a view to its systematic development and reform. Commissioners, including the Chair, are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. The Law Commission’s role is to promote the reform of the law to make it clearer, more modern and more accessible. The Commission’s projects bring real benefits to the public, businesses or other organisations affected by old, complex and out-of-date law.