A proposal that barristers go on strike from late April if the Government does not pledge to reverse cuts to criminal legal-aid fees – in full and by the end of the year – is to be put before an extraordinary general meeting of the Bar of Ireland today.
However, a Bar Council amendment instead welcomes the commitment given in the Programme for Government “to fully restore criminal legal aid fees”, acknowledges the progress made in the last two budgets towards the achievement of this goal, and urges the council to continue its efforts to ensure complete restoration, including of the link to public sector pay, as soon as possible.
Some barristers told The Irish Times they regarded the council’s motion as an attempt to “water down” the strike proposal, while others supported its “strategic” approach.
Convened on foot of a petition signed by 50 barristers, the meeting comes amid mounting frustration and anger over delay in implementing full pay restoration for barristers following recession-era cuts to the legal-aid fees they are paid for acting in criminal cases.
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One barrister has moved a motion demanding a timeline from Government for the full unwinding of the cuts and the restoration of a previous link, broken in 2008, with salaries of higher public servants.
If the Government has not agreed by the end of March to those demands, then the motion urges a full withdrawal of criminal barristers’ services by April 28th.
Another barrister has a motion urging the council to seek government agreement to a scheme under which barristers would be paid directly, instead of through solicitors, for criminal legal-aid work in the District Courts.
A different motion wants the council to seek a fee system for work of reviewing discovery materials, including CCTV footage and material from phones and other devices.
[ Criminal barristers strike: Legal aid earnings range from €27 a day to €773,000 a year ]
The pay dispute previously led to the council sanctioning an unprecedented one-day strike by criminal barristers on October 3rd, 2023. Barristers again withdrew services over three days last July in protest as the fees being paid at the time were more than 40 per cent below 2022 levels.
In a statement on Friday evening, Bar Council chair Seán Guerin SC welcomed the appointment of Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan SC as Minister for Justice and welcomed the government’s “commitment to reform and improvement of the justice system”.
The Bar looks forward to working with the Minister on “key reform priorities”, he said.
The restoration of criminal legal-aid fees was “an urgent priority” and the same issue arose in relation to civil legal-aid and civil state work “and this will be a matter for discussion”, he said.
Commitments within the Programme for Government to other reforms, including establishment of a dedicated medical negligence court, an immigration division of the High Court, judicial resourcing and the focus on digitalisation of the courts system, will “require careful analysis and consultation”, he said.
Mr Guerin welcomed a promised implementation plan for the new family courts system. Civil legal-aid reform will require “urgent attention” from the new government, he said.
* This article was amended on January 27th, 2025
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