Criminal attorneys in England and Wales agree to halt strike after govt offers 15% pay hike. Read details here

According to the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), a total of 57% of lawyers chose to accept a 15% wage increase in a vote and agreed to resume work.

As a result of the decision, cases will start being heard in the crown courts, as usual, starting on Tuesday.

Due to the strike, hundreds of trials were postponed. However, it remains unclear how quickly the backlog can be cleared up.


The new Justice Secretary, Brandon Lewis put forth a set of several measures to the barristers that went much further than those proposed by his predecessor, Dominic Raab.

An independent suggestion given to ministers over a year ago was also included in the agreement, which offered an immediate 15% increase in prices for government-funded defense work.

Additionally, it was said that this would apply to 60,000 cases in the historically high national backlog.

For a variety of court preparation tasks that barristers said they weren't fairly compensated for, new Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis has proposed to give additional funds.



Barristers, who initially asked for a 25% wage increase, claimed that the criminal justice system was disintegrating because of a persistent shortage of finance. They had claimed that politicians needed to invest significantly more money in order to reduce the record trial delays.

The strikes began in June after years of protests from criminal barristers who raised voices against the ‘pared’ legal aid system, which accounts for the majority of their salary and resulted in income losses of 35% over the last ten years.

Related FAQs

1. How much increase was included in government-funded defense work?
   An immediate 15% increase in prices for government-funded defense work.
2. How much income loss has been recorded?
   Income losses of 35% have been recorded.