Crown courts across England and Wales are being flooded with bail and adjournment applications ahead of the all-out strike by criminal legal aid barristers, the Gazette has learned.

Judges and lawyers have told the Gazette that there is 'chaos' in some Crown court sites, due in part to the lack of updated guidance from the senior judiciary, since the Criminal Bar Association announced the results of the ballot to escalate the protest action over legal aid rates. The indefinite walkout begins on 5 September but many courts are expected to grind to a halt this Friday as a strike was already scheduled for next week. 

One criminal QC, who did not want to be named, told the Gazette that when the initial 'days of action' and intermittent walk outs began in June, judges were told that trials were to remain listed, rather than prepare for any potential ineffectiveness owing to a lack of advocate. But now, with the prospect of an indefinite strike, defendants whose trials have been listed or whose custody time limits are due to expire, want to make applications for bail or to have their cases adjourned, before they are left without an advocate to represent them.

Another criminal QC said that courts were doing things differently around the country, because of the lack of guidance. 'It’s all a bit hit and miss,' the barrister said.

One judge told the Gazette that colleagues are following earlier guidance, and therefore not hearing bail applications, but advising defence solicitors to make written applications to present to judges on the day the trial is listed.

Trials that have already started face the prospect of being delayed part-heard for weeks, said one defence QC.

The lord chief justice came in for criticism in June when he issued guidance stating that the names of striking barristers would be given to the senior presiding judge to consider whether they should be referred to the Bar Standards Board. The senior presiding judge subsequently said that names were no longer being taken and that all previous records had been destroyed.

A spokesperson for the judiciary told the Gazette that the judges are 'not part of the action, so will not be commenting on it'. They said that 'no recent instructions or statements' have been issued by the lord chief justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, or another judge on his behalf. The spokesman declined to comment on whether Lord Burnett had held discussions with the lord chancellor, Dominic Raab, since the ballot result was announced on Monday morning.

 

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