North's Barristers To Strike As Fees Cut

There's a major legal tussle brewing this week with news that the outgoing Stormont Justice Minister is not going to back down on the new rates he has set for solicitors and lawyers working on legal aid cases in NI.

That's after the revelation that defence lawyers may stop work on serious criminal cases after the changes came into force on Wednesday after they claimed it would not allow them to do their jobs properly.

However, as the Alliance party Leader and Justice Minister David Ford has said the move would save £18m there is a major row on the way.

Under the rules set out by Mr Ford, enhanced rates paid out in 'Very High Cost Cases' are to end.

He said this week that fees to solicitors in standard cases are also to be reduced by 25% under changes in the Legal Aid for Crown Court Proceedings (Costs) (Amendment) Rules. Barristers' rates will also drop by 20% as part of the changes.

Today he has signaled he will push ahead with the changes after solicitors said on Wednesday they will not be there to represent clients facing charges up to murder when they pass to the Crown Court.

Now, for the first time in NI for nearly 20 years, defence lawyers have now responded by declaring a withdrawal of services in serious criminal proceedings.

They argue that the amendments will leave them unable to prepare cases properly, and that the system in Northern Ireland is being wrongly compared with England and Wales.

Lawyers involved say they were prepared to accept some reductions, but that the cuts go too far.

In a statement, the Bar Council claimed the Minister rejected a joint proposal of the Bar and Law Society, which was developed at the suggestion of the Justice Committee.

"The cuts brought forward by the Minister in respect of criminal defence work in the Crown Court are excessive and will cause irreparable damage to the criminal justice system," the statement said.

"The Bar warned against the implications of making cuts beyond the allocated budget for criminal legal aid, as had been agreed between Gordon Brown and the Northern Ireland Executive at Hillsborough."

It also acknowledged the concerns of solicitors that the new rules will result in a two-tier system of justice.

"The introduction of these rules will have a marked effect on the quality of representation provided to the public in the most serious trials in the Crown Court."

Reacting today, the Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Stephen Farry, has said he is deeply disappointed that some lawyers are to stop work on serious criminal cases in a protest against reductions in their payments for legal aid cases.

Defending his party boss, Stephen Farry said: "I am deeply disappointed at the actions of these lawyers. What sort of message does this send out at this time of austerity that they are not prepared to take their share of the burden or show the same flexibility as others.

"Legal aid costs for Crown Court defence have tripled in recent years. Last year, legal aid cost £104m against a planned budget of £85m. These fees were simply unacceptable and unsustainable.

"We now have a specific Northern Ireland system which is 20% more generous to lawyers than the system in England and Wales," he said.

"These changes to legal aid fees will not mean any restrictions on access to justice. The key issue is that David Ford as Minister could not afford to keep paying lawyers what they want."

(BMcC/GK)