The Chairperson of the Bar Council of Ireland's Criminal State Bar Committee has said tomorrow’s strike by criminal barristers will effectively mean the criminal courts will not be able to do their normal day’s work on what is the first full day of the legal year.
Criminal barristers who opt to participate in the one-day action – the first such action by barristers - will not attend court on Tuesday, nor will they communicate with solicitors, do paperwork or claim fees.
They are calling on the Government to implement a "meaningful, independent and time-limited mechanism" to determine fees payable to barristers by the DPP and under the Legal Aid Scheme.
Protests are organised between 10am to 1pm outside all courthouses nationwide where criminal matters were, or are, listed to be heard.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said yesterday she is engaged in negotiations on restoration of the fees as part of budget discussions, meaning no resolution is likely before mid-October.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland Sean Guerin SC of the Criminal State Bar Committee explained that barristers want pay restoration in line with pay restoration elsewhere in the public service "and no more than that".
"We haven't asked for any pay increases and at this stage we have recommended this action to our members in pursuit of a meaningful, independent and time limited mechanism to determine the fees payable both by the DPP and the Department of Justice under the criminal legal aids," he said.
He said the strike "will effectively mean that the criminal courts won't be able to do their normal day's work tomorrow on what is the first full day of the legal year.
"And that is going to be inconvenient for anyone who's expecting their case to be dealt with tomorrow."
Mr Guerin said that barristers "regret the inconvenience enormously", adding "this is an action we're engaging in only very reluctantly".
"Because we have been waiting now since July of 2018, when it was agreed that we had provided co-operation with reforms equivalent to those provided by others who secured pay restoration and five budgets have gone by in the interim."
He said it is time now that it is addressed, adding that barristers have continued to co-operate with the change process in the court system since July of 2018.
Mr Guerin acknowledged that Ms McEntee is seeking to address the issue in the context of the budget negotiations.
"They will come to a head within a week, and we'll see what comes of that and we'll see where we stand at that stage," he said.
