Legal

New legal term begins with a bang – and strike action

The one-day action by criminal barristers is scheduled for Tuesday, while high-profile cases including a suit involving the National Children’s Hospital and the Ashling Murphy murder trial await their turns on the docket

Barrister Anne Fitzgibbon, left, and others protest outside the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin, over pay restoration. The Bar Council has recommended a one-day action this Tuesday as part of a dispute over recession-era cuts to criminal legal aid fees. Picture: Collins

A new legal term begins on Monday and with it comes a busy 12 weeks of court sittings, trials, and the publication of long-awaited judgments.

But what will hang over the opening week is the planned strike action by criminal barristers around the country scheduled for Tuesday.

The Bar Council, the representative body for barristers, recommended the one-day action as part of a dispute over recession-era cuts to criminal legal aid fees, saying it had ...