The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has today (22 August 2022) announced that its members have voted to escalate their industrial action from 5 September 2022, when the new prime minister takes office. The ballot, which closed yesterday (21 August 2022), saw 1,808 votes (79.5 per cent of participants) in favour of the escalation. Barristers will not attend court or take new instructions or returns on advocates’ graduated fee scheme (AGFS) cases, and this will continue indefinitely.

Since 27 June 2022, members have been implementing days of action and, from 1 August, alternating weeks of action (itself an escalation of the no returns policy that commenced on 11 April). This was supported by 81.5 per cent of the 2,055 CBA members who voted in that ballot. The last week of action begins next Tuesday (30 August 2022), which means Crown Court hearings will effectively cease from that date.

The CBA deems the escalation of action necessary because the government refuses to negotiate a fair settlement. It has continued to meet with senior civil servants at the Ministry of Justice, but justice secretary Dominic Raab has refused to meet with CBA members or even its representatives. The final report of Sir Christopher Bellamy QC’s Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid (published on 29 November 2021). However, the government proposed the 15 per cent increase to take effect in October, and only to new representation orders made thereafter. With the backlog of criminal cases standing at 58,000 as of April 2022, the increase in fees will not take effect for several years.

The notice to members on 8 August 2022 announcing the latest ballot, signed by CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC, vice-chair Kirsty Brimelow QC, treasurer Laurie-Anne Power QC, secretary Lucie Wibberley and assistant secretary Mark Watson, said: