Legal

James McDermott: Crime doesn’t pay for criminals they say – or for barristers it seems

In no other sector would professionals be expected to work for 2002 rates of pay – but criminal law barristers are, and it’s causing a brain drain

‘It is unclear why the government has been so slow to increase criminal legal aid payments particularly where what is being sought is pay restoration rather than a pay rise’

Isaac Newton famously observed that what goes up must come down. But when the new legal year starts on Monday, members of the criminal bar will be contemplating the accuracy of the converse proposition: namely, if something goes down, is it inevitable that it will eventually come back up again?

The something in question are the fees paid by the state to criminal barristers – and an early opportunity for such contemplation will come on ...