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Criminal barristers plan three strike days in July

Criminal barristers across the country will embark on a series of days of withdrawal of services from next week.

The nationwide withdrawal days are as follows:

• Tuesday 9 July,
• Monday 15 July, and
• Wednesday 24th July.

The planned withdrawal is an escalation of the nationwide action by barristers on 3 October last year.

The Bar of Ireland has said it is seeking an “independent, meaningful, time-limited and binding mechanism” to determine the fees paid to criminal barristers by the Director of Public Prosecutions and under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Scheme.

Partial restoration

The Bar of Ireland stated: “Notwithstanding the minimal and partial restoration of 10% (in respect of the cut that was uniquely applied to barristers), fees paid by the State to criminal barristers continue to be approximately 40% below 2002 levels in real terms.

“This is despite a Government-commissioned review in 2018 acknowledging that the reversal of the cuts was justified given the level of reform and flexibilities delivered by the profession.”