The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) accumulated a total of 1,717 responses in its most recent national survey, in which almost one-third of criminal barristers claim they are actively looking to leave the Bar. Another third say they are considering switching their practice to another discipline, while around 44% remain committed to taking on publicly funded criminal work.
12% of respondents say they are currently weighing up both options.
Some of the key reasons behind this possible crisis include ever-present: financial concerns, long and overly stressful working hours and some growing administrative issues.
According to the report, almost 80% of responding barristers believe that handling tasks that were previously handled by solicitors and the Crown Prosecution Service hinders them from “focusing on the case” they are working on. A “crumbling court infrastructure” also concerns over half of respondents.
The CBA claim that the remuneration that criminal barristers receive “simply does not reflect the hours of work”, with nearly 80% working upwards of 50 hours per week. 50% work over 60 hours a week and 20% even more, clocking over 70 hours every week.
Almost a third of the 1,717 respondents currently work every, or nearly every weekend, on “both Saturday and Sunday”, contributing to 84% missing family and personal events as a result.
The vast majority of responses (1,600) said they want the main focus to be on adequate and fair remuneration for criminal barristers. 90% of those surveyed hope to receive a percentage increase in all fees, as an acknowledgement that criminal barristers haven’t been treated like other key workers in the last two decades.
Almost all respondents hope to receive the same rights as other key public sectors workers, like judges and the civil service.
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