Students from the Queen Elizabeth Academy in Crediton have won the final of the Bar National Mock Trial Competition on 24 March, in the annual competition’s 21st year.

Criminal solicitors advise and appear in court on behalf of both accused persons and the prosecution, handling the full spectrum of offences, from minor motoring misdemeanours to more serious crimes, including murder.

At the criminal Bar you may be called on to act for either the defence or the prosecution.

The Criminal Bar Association last week voted to accept the deal offered by the Ministry of Justice to suspend legal aid cuts to Graduated Fee cases for a year.

The criminal bar has secured additional hardship provisions from the government in a bid to support practitioners as the pandemic continues to impact the profession and chambers report huge reductions in income. 

The Criminal Bar Association has announced that some of its members will not attend crown courts on the morning of 6 January, the first day of the new court term next year, in protest at the government’s legal aid cuts.

The pressures on criminal barristers are forcing many to regularly skip lunch or any other form of break, the chair of the Criminal Bar Association has said.

Barristers have voted to go on an indefinite, uninterrupted strike in England and Wales starting from 5 September 2022.

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have reported that they feel overworked and underpaid and would be willing to take direct action.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has unanimously passed a motion proposing strike action if the government implements further criminal legal aid cuts.

Criminal barristers are voting on whether to stage a one-day walk-out as their dispute with the Ministry of Justice over fees continues.

The number of barristers leaving the criminal court for higher paying corporate positions poses a risk of further crisis to the court system, according to Criminal Bar Association Chair Mary Prior KC.

The government has defeated an opposition attempt to reverse reforms to the way that criminal defence barristers are paid for legal aid work, with barristers vowing to step up their strike action in response.

Following a vote to join the criminal Bar in protest action, more than 100 criminal defence solicitors will stop taking on low-paid work in response to the government’s criminal legal aid reforms.

The CICA, or Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, is an official executive agency of the UK Government and was originally known as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board when it was set up in 1964.

Following a morning walk-out in protest at the proposed cuts to legal aid earlier this month, criminal lawyers are planning to stage a full day of protest if the government’s planned cuts go ahead.

The Ministry of Justice has revealed plans to fast-track legislation that will see barristers receive increased legal aid fees at a faster rate. The announcement follows the start of a series of strikes at the Bar that started on Monday and are set to continue for four weeks. 

Criminal legal aid fees are set to increase by the end of September, as the government revealed plans to “lay a statutory instrument in parliament before 21 July, to begin the process of implementing increases to fees”.