Victims of crime face longer waits for trials after barristers voted to take industrial action by an overwhelming 94 per cent majority in a row with the Government over funding for cases.

       Some 1,800 criminal barristers voted in favour of the work to rule from April 11, which will mean that cases could be postponed, hampering efforts to reduce the backlog caused by the Covid pandemic.

       It is only the second time the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has taken action in its history after a strike in 2013 and comes amid a breakdown in relations with the Government over its demands for a multi-million pound cash injection into legal aid.

       Jo Sidhu QC, chair of the CBA, said: “We have sustained a chronically underfunded criminal justice system on behalf of the public while suffering substantial reductions in our real incomes.

       Colleagues giving up criminal work

       “We have already lost too many of our colleagues who can no longer afford to maintain their commitment to criminal work.

       “Every day we are losing more. We have shrunk to a mere 2,400 full-time criminal barristers. The future viability and diversity of the Criminal Bar is already imperilled. It is a recognition of the scale of this crisis that has driven so many to vote in favour of action.”

       Under the industrial action, barristers will refuse to take on late requests to go to court on behalf of a colleague. This long-standing co-operative system is essential to keeping cases moving towards a verdict, ultimately saving court time and money.

       Such a work-to-rule could, within weeks, force judges to postpone increasing numbers of hearings, making the already unprecedented backlog grow.

       Dispute over legal aid

       The row centres on the ￡1 billion criminal legal aid system, which pays for solicitors and barristers who act for defendants who cannot afford the costs of the expert advice they are entitled to as part of their trial.

       Last month, an independent review for the Government said the legal aid budget needed an immediate injection of ￡135 million to reverse a huge loss of lawyers.

       Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has promised his response by the end of March, which will then go out to consultation. But the CBA has said that it is too long to wait, and sanctioned the ballot, which has now voted for industrial action.

       A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We are disappointed in a vote for this course of action just days before we announce our plans to create a stable and sustainable legal aid sector for the future.

       “We encourage CBA members to read our proposals in full and respond to the consultation, rather than being drawn into action that will harm victims of crime.”