Legal aid boycott suspended after 52 days

Criminal solicitors and barristers are to suspend their nationwide boycott of legal aid work, despite no agreement being reached with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The move, which the practitioner groups have described as a 'goodwill' gesture, comes after 52 days of direct action against a further 8.75 per cent cut in criminal solicitor fees, which has seen defendants appear before the courts without legal representation.

Over the course of the last three days, the Criminal Law Solicitors' Association (CLSA) and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA) surveyed its members over the mandate to suspend action. The practitioner groups were agreed they looked forward to a continuing open dialogue with the MoJ.

The CLSA and LCCSA are now surveying their members to determine whether firms will withdraw their bids for the controversial 'two-tier' legal aid contracts. The groups have publicly stated that the new contracts scheme is not viable and will damage the justice system.

In a statement the heads of the practitioner groups said: 'In recent weeks, the leaders of the practitioner groups have had the opportunity to engage with the MoJ and by so doing, have been able to provide ideas for long terms savings as a direct alternative to a cut in rates.

'Although no offer to settle the issue has yet been made, as a gesture of goodwill and recognising the importance of this engagement we firmly believe that the time is right to suspend the action with immediate effect. By doing so we hope the relationship which has now been established will continue into the future. There are many challenges ahead and the engagement to date is a sign that those challenges can be debated constructively in a receptive atmosphere.'

The CLSA chair, Bill Waddington, and his LCCSA counterpart, Jonathan Black, said they were grateful for those practitioners who had participated in the action and had 'stood firm in support of their principles'.

'We also thank the CBA for their involvement in this action and in doing so recognise the immense sacrifice made by many on both sides of the profession,' they added.

Commenting on the move, the Criminal Bar Association's (CBA) chairman-elect, Mark Fenhalls QC, said he was suspending his group's no returns policy with immediate effect.

Fenhalls added that the two-tier scheme represents an 'existential threat' to the quality of the justice system in the UK, and that the CBA would therefore be monitoring the outcome of the next solicitor ballot.

'But this threat is not one that the Bar can take on alone,' he added. 'Solicitors and barristers must continue, even at this late stage, to try to persuade officials and politicians that there are viable alternatives.'