Long: Criminal barrister strike ‘damaging credibility of the bar and justice system’
Strike action by criminal barristers is damaging the justice system and the credibility of the criminal bar, Justice Minister Naomi Long has claimed.
The industrial action is part of a long-running dispute by criminal barristers in Northern Ireland over fees for legal aid, which has seen crown court cases involving those who require legal aid effectively halted.
A derogation was granted to allow the continuation of some trials, including that of the man accused of the murder of Natalie McNally in 2022, and the trial of a man accused of Chloe Mitchell’s murder in 2023.
Speaking during questions for the Justice Minister at the Assembly, Ms Long said she is expecting the outcome of a review into the issues raised.
DUP MLA Pam Cameron raised the case of Ian McCollum, who died in a workplace accident in Newry in 2022.
Earlier this week Walter Thomas Christopher Manley, 55, of Loanda Crescent, Newry, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case, with a sentencing hearing due to take place on June 29.
Ms Cameron asked whether the strike would be likely to have been resolved by that date.
Ms Long said she has asked her officials to assess the recommendations from the review and for them to provide advice to her as a matter of urgency.
“I hope that it will ultimately result in a return to service immediately. However, as I said on the day when I met with McCollum family, I believe that the CBA ought to return to service now,” she told MLAs.
“You ought not to be in a position as a minister where you feel that you are negotiating with a gun to your head, and essentially that is what’s happening.
“Because I am fearful too, of the attrition of victims and witnesses through these processes. I am concerned about the impact on their mental health through the length of wait that they have, and I am concerned about the impact in terms of our wider justice system, where backlogs build up and we do not have the reserves in terms of the money to be able to address those.”
She went on: “It is doing damage to and justice system, and I would argue it is doing damage to the credibility of the criminal bar, and I would urge them go back to work, come back to the table and we will resolve these issues in a fair way, based on the evidence that the accelerated review has presented.”
Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole queried why the impasse remains ongoing, putting it to the minister that “this seems like a crisis that you will not or cannot solve”.
Ms Long responded: “The truth of the matter is that there is nothing to stop the criminal bar coming back to work at any time.
“It will not influence the outcome of the accelerated review that they remain outside, it will not change the outcome of my deliberations on the report of that review.
“That arrives with me on April 24, and it is with my officials now for them to provide advice, which I anticipate getting in the next few days, and I will make quick decisions with regard to that in terms of a way forward.
“The only people who can control whether or not they return to court are the criminal bar themselves, and I would urge them to do so.”
The Criminal Bar Association has been approached for a response.