Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association
Press Release
Issued 24 October 2008
Jack Straw caves in to the Bar to end the VHCC strike
Today’s announcement of changes to the VHCC structure which will result in fewer advocates and using the £6m savings to pay more to those who remain doing the work will not please everyone
Solicitors will not be surprised that Jack Straw and Lord Bach, both with backgrounds as barristers should give in to industrial action by the Bar again. If the government is satisfied that savings can be made without jeopardising justice it is astonishing that they should choose to reward those who are already paid at the highest rate whilst ignoring those who work at the sharp end in the magistrates’ courts and the police stations for low rates of pay
Perhaps more significant is the revelation that QCs and junior barristers themselves apparently acknowledge that there has been over-manning on cases in the past, allowing the savings to be made.
In response to the announcement, CLSA Chair Joy Merriam said:
“If there is money available from any source, there are many ways to spend it wisely. Drastic cuts in recent years jeopardise the financial future of many small law firms. Solicitors working in those practices will be disappointed at this news”.
She added:
“There will now be fewer advocates involved in these cases and those who no longer get the work are unlikely to be grateful for a small rise in the hourly rate for their colleagues. The lesson for us all is clear: strikes work”
The CLSA also paid tribute to the determined approach taken by the Law Society throughout this dispute in support of solicitors undertaking all types of criminal legal aid work.
Notes to Editors:
The CLSA is an independent organisation representing over 1300 lawyers in England and Wales. Its members specialise, often exclusively, in criminal defence litigation. Its members are defenders in the large majority, but it has prosecutors and court clerks in its membership. It was set up to represent criminal lawyers in 1989 from the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association.
Chairman: Joy Merriam, CLSA, Suite 2 Level 6, New England House, New England Street, Brighton,
BN1 4GH. DX 2740 Brighton. Email: Tel: 01273 676725. www.clsa.co.uk