This Friday, criminal barristers in England and Wales will leave work not knowing when they’ll be back. I’m a criminal barrister and QC, and together with the vast majority of barristers in my profession, I voted in favour of this strike. Barristers are doing this with a heavy heart: we know it will add to the unprecedented backlog of cases in the crown court. So why are we taking this step? The answer is a simple one: those of us who work, day in day out, in the criminal courts fear for the very survival of the criminal justice system. The dispute we have with the Ministry of Justice is not just about pay. The criminal justice system is unravelling at the seams. The backlog of cases currently stands at 60,000. Court buildings are crumbling and often unsafe. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, the lifeblood of the criminal justice system, is understaffed and facing increasing pressure. Before Covid, the government cut the number of sitting days in the crown court by 20% to save costs. This has not been reversed, so courts now sit empty and idle while the backlog of cases grows. Defendants are waiting months beyond their custody time limit to stand trial. Witnesses and complainants are waiting for their day in court. As the days pass with no trial date, some witnesses have memories that fade; some will become untraceable and some, disillusioned and frustrated, will refuse to attend court. All of this is bad for society at large. There is a national shortage of judges, and 22% of junior criminal barristers have left the profession since 2016 because they simply cannot earn a decent living (specialist criminal barristers make an average annual income after expenses of £12,200 in the first three years of practice). Even the government has acknowledged that that pay needs addressing. This is why it commissioned the Bellamy review that was delivered to the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, last November. Its recommendations have yet to be acted on. It was only in the dying days of the last session of parliament, before the summer recess, that moves were made to allow for an increase of 15% in legal aid rates. This will only apply to new cases from 30 September onwards. There is a vast backlog of old cases in the system, so it will be months or years before this increase is felt by criminal barristers, and this will be set against a backdrop of increasing inflation and higher living costs. We have requested that this increase should be applied to live cases in the criminal justice system. The government’s initial response was that it was not allowed to do this as a matter of law. Yet parliament makes the law, so this was always palpable nonsense. Inevitably, the government U-turned on its position. But it has still refused to apply the rise to current cases. Raab has remained notably silent on this issue. He has consistently declined to engage with the leaders of the Criminal Bar Association and hasn’t commented on the contents of the Bellamy review. The primary functions of any government are to protect its people, educate children, care for the sick and vulnerable and maintain law and order. Proper investment in the criminal justice system is a crucial part of this last function. This system ensures those who are accused of crime can be tried fairly. It allows the victims of crime, who are often the more vulnerable in our society, to see justice. The current system doesn’t allow for either of these things to happen. Why is the government’s attitude to the criminal justice system different to its attitude towards education and health? The cynic may say that it is because there are few votes to be won by supporting the criminal justice system. Unlike health and education, it is not something that many people come into direct contact with. It is often misunderstood by the general public (sometimes its archaic practices do not help in this regard). And yet, it is vitally important. Anyone can find themselves wrongly accused of a crime. It is only right that they are properly represented in order to clear their name. Equally, if someone has committed a crime, it is only right that they are brought to justice. The current crisis is jeopardising the very system that the criminal bar is seeking to protect. This is why criminal barristers feel they have no other option but to strike. Simon Spence QC is a criminal barrister at Red Lion Chambers