Striking Defense Lawyers in U.K. Agree to Return to Work

LONDON — Britain’s embattled new government put out at least one fire on Monday, with criminal defense lawyers announcing that they had accepted a new pay offer from the Justice Ministry and would end a five-week strike that left courthouses clogged with thousands of pending cases.

The Criminal Bar Association, which represents barristers in England and Wales, voted to accept the offer, which raises legal aid payments by 15 percent for the “vast majority of cases currently in” the criminal courts, according to the ministry. The government will also offer additional funds to cover the costs of preparing cases and for prerecorded cross-examinations of victims of crime.

For the government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, the settlement was a rare bit of welcome news during a period of proliferating labor unrest, as well as political and financial market blowback over its supply-side economic agenda.

Much of Britain’s rail service was suspended again on Saturday, the 11th day of strikes since June by railway workers. Bus drivers and call-center workers have also gone on strike, while midwives are threatening to walk out. With the inflation rate close to double digits, workers across the economy are demanding significant pay increases.

The government’s offer fell short of the lawyers’ demand for a 25 percent raise in legal aid fees. But the justice minister, Brandon Lewis, did agree to expand the government’s offer of 15 percent to cover not just newly filed cases, but the roughly 60,000 cases that are currently pending before the courts.

How quickly the courts will be able to able to whittle down that backlog was not clear. The pileup of cases predated the strikes, which began sporadically in April and expanded into an indefinite walkout on Sept. 5. Even with a 15 percent increase in fees, some lawyers say criminal defense work remains financially tenuous, leading many barristers to quit for more lucrative practices in commercial or family law.

“We have been trying for many, many years to make government understand that unless they intervene, we will continue to see an exodus of criminal barristers from publicly funded work,” said Jo Sidhu, the departing chairman of the Criminal Bar Association. “We’ve lost a quarter of our work force over the last five years.”

With the inflation rate running at 9.9 percent, lawyers pointed out, a 15 percent increase in legal fees is hardly transformative. But for many barristers, the lawyers who argue cases in court, it is clearly preferable to staying out of work indefinitely. The Criminal Bar Association said the offer was supported by 57 percent of the 2,605 barristers who voted.

Mr. Lewis had taken a more conciliatory position than his predecessor as justice minister, Dominic Raab, agreeing to meet with the lawyers and expanding the government’s offer to include existing cases.

“Since starting this job five weeks ago,” Mr. Lewis said in a statement, “my priority has been to end this strike action and reduce delays for victims, and I’m glad that barristers have agreed to return to work.”

“This breakthrough is a result of coming together and restarting what I hope to be a constructive relationship as we work to drive down the backlog and ensure victims see justice done sooner,” Mr. Lewis added.

Representatives of victims’ groups also praised the agreement, though they raised concerns that the government’s rollout of prerecorded testimony in England and Wales — a practice that is designed to shield victims of traumatic crimes like rape from testifying in open court — could result in a higher rate of acquittals.

“I’m pleased to see @TheCriminalBar strike is over,” Claire Waxman, the victims’ commissioner for London, posted on Twitter, “but the justice system still needs urgent investment to tackle the backlogs, provide reassurance over the rollout of prerecorded evidence, & ensure victims receive swifter justice & support.”

Though the lawyers’ strike did not affect daily life in Britain as widely as the railway strike, the settlement was one of several conciliatory steps the government has taken after a turbulent first month in office. Its announcement of tax cuts for the wealthy last month unsettled the markets, deeply divided Conservative Party lawmakers, and left the party badly trailing the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.

The chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, confirmed he would move up the release of his medium-term fiscal plan to Oct. 31, from Nov. 23. That is calculated to reassure markets, which fear the government will borrow heavily to pay for its tax cuts. At the same time, the government will also publish an independent assessment of the fiscal program, from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Despite the breakthrough with lawyers, there was little evidence that the government was nearing a deal with railway workers. Midwives are among the health workers whose union plans to vote on a walkout in November.

The squeeze on fees for lawyers has had a ripple effect throughout Britain’s courts because prosecutors and judges are also drawn from the ranks of barristers. As barristers leave the field, there is a shortage of candidates for those jobs as well. Many courts are closed because there is no judge available.

“We’re getting to the stage where trials aren’t going forward because there are no prosecutors,” said Alejandra Tascon, 29, a barrister in London. “The result of this attempt to save a few pennies here and there has result in a lack of lawyers to try cases and a lack of judges to hear cases.”