Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Leeds barristers have warned that an extensive criminal case backlog is now inevitable as they take indefinite strike action.

Barristers across the country have walked out this week amid claims many are on less than minimum wage.

The financial dispute has triggered several walk outs in recent months, but members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted to down tools this week and vow not to return to work until the Government listen to their demands.

Victoria Road incident: Neighbours heard arguing moments before police descended...

Barristers across the country have walked out this week amid claims many are on less than minimum wage. Picture: James Hardisty

Chris Moran, who works for Park Square Barristers in the city, says it means thousands of criminal cases will be shelved and will effectively “grind the system to a halt”.

"There's a 60,000 case backlog at the moment which was already 40,000 strong before Covid but unfortunately this is going to add to that backlog,” he told the YEP.

"If we thought there was any other way around this then we would take another route but we had to take action.”

Barristers first warned the Government of incoming action in April but claim to have been ignored.

Chris Moran, who works for Park Square Barristers in the city, says it means thousands of criminal cases will be shelved and will effectively “grind the system to a halt”. Picture: James Hardisty

With a huge backlog of cases already caused by Covid, the strikes mean defendants, victims and witnesses could be waiting another year or more for trials and sentencings.

"The Government produced a report over a year ago and have just sat on. I we didn’t choose now to act then we would have reached the point of no return.” he added.

Mr Moran admits there is a tiny percentage of top-end criminal lawyers who earn six-figure salaries, but says that the general public “would be surprised” to find the majority are scraping a living.

He said: "We are not salaried, we are paid by the case.

"It’s supposed to reflect the amount of work we have to put in.

"The amount of work per case has gone through the roof, which means pay has gone down."

Addressing the crowd, one barrister described the criminal justice as both metaphorically and literally crumbling.

"Sadly over the past two decades successive governments have continually under-resourced our criminal justice system,” he said.

"As a result the system is metaphorically and in the case of some of our court buildings literally crumbling.”

Junior barristers earn about £12,500 a year.

'The system is crumbling': Criminal case backlog inevitable as Leeds barristers walk out in indefinite strike action