The ballot result was 57% in favour of suspension against almost 43% for continuing the strike (1,488 voted yes to suspending the action while 1,117 voted no, out of 2,605 votes cast).
Justice secretary Brandon Lewis offered an extra £54m, raising fees by 15% for the ‘vast majority’ of cases currently before or due to come before the Crown Court. Under the previous offer, the 15% rise would only apply to cases starting on or after 1 October.
Announcing the ballot results, Criminal Bar Association (CBA) chair Kirsty Brimelow KC (pictured) and CBA executive members said: ‘Barristers should not have to fight so hard again to bring this responsibility back home to government.
‘The offer from the government is an overdue start. Its acceptance by barristers is on the basis that it is implemented.
‘Otherwise, the CBA will ballot again to lift the suspension of action… our members remain ready to act again.’
The CBA said it would now focus on setting up the criminal legal aid advisory board.
Mark Fenhalls KC, chair of the Bar Council, said: ‘The offer was the culmination of many months of work and pressure, and unprecedented personal sacrifice by barristers.’
However, Law Society president I Stephanie Boyce said: ‘The justice minister may think he has got one problem off his table but there are bigger problems coming his way as this dispute continues.
‘This is another example of a government U-turn making a bad situation worse’. She warned solicitors would see the government had found ‘a magic money tree to stop the disruptive action of barristers—money that was not available to pay solicitors fairly.’
Boyce called for parity on the 15% fee increase—solicitors’ fees are increasing by just 9%.
Boyce said: ‘If the gap isn’t bridged by the time the government publishes their full response to the independent review in November, we have made it clear we will advise our members that there is no viable future in criminal legal aid work.’
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