No Order: Criminal Barristers go on strike in Northern Ireland
By Luke Collins
New Year, new demands it seems for Northern Ireland’s criminal barristers, who on Monday, the 5th of January, began a strike attempting to sort out legal aid disputes in their profession, labelled a ‘“crisis” in the justice system’ [1]. They claim that Departmental inaction on fee reviews not only harms the criminal justice system but also ‘it is failing victims and accused persons and placing an intolerable burden on criminal barristers’ [2].
This strike has halted any crown court case involving people who require legal aid, and according to Justice Minister Naomi Long, the Criminal Bar has refused to take up 12 high-risk cases, including the case of the murder of Natalie McNally, and many victims are still at risk from the accused, leaving them “significantly vulnerable” [3]. This creates a devastating problem for Northern Ireland’s justice system if fewer barristers take criminal cases; cases are delayed or halted, which creates a backlog for the Crown Court.
Legal aid is legal representation in a crown court for people who have proven that they cannot afford expensive legal fees, including the costs of ‘legal advice, family mediation and most importantly representation in court’ [4]. Legal aid is provided if a person or their family is under serious physical or emotional risk, if they are at risk of homelessness or bankruptcy or if they are bringing a case under the Human Rights Act, to name a few. All of these problems may lead to the provision of legal aid in civil/non-criminal cases, and anyone under the age of 18 and in full-time education is automatically given legal aid in criminal cases, but the application process is more difficult for criminal cases. The benefits of legal aid also include ‘advice on rights and options given by a law professional, help with negotiations and paperwork and help if you are accused of a crime’ [4], such as having a solicitor present if you are taken to a police station, as well as access to a barrister to represent you in court. The Department of Justice published statistics on legal aid in Northern Ireland in May of last year and found that ‘In 2024/25, a total of 61,573 cases were granted legal aid. Of these, over two-thirds (67.5%; 41,570) were criminal cases, with 32.5% (20,003) representing civil cases granted by the Agency,’ [5] and £119,990,900 was authorised from the legal aid fund in 2024/25, the highest annual total authorised, and the expenditure was split evenly between criminal (50.8%) and civil (49.2%).
Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Donal Lunny, has stated that the reason why barristers have gone on strike is that the legal aid fees have not increased since 2005 and in fact are worth 50% of their original value, due to the low pay “barristers and solicitors’ firms aren’t doing criminal work because the legal aid rates are so poor” [1]. Young barristers are put off from taking legal aid work due to the low pay. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) made the announcement that it would withdraw from all Crown Court cases in December. Of the 193 members of the CBA who voted on this proposal, 89% backed withdrawing from all Crown Court prosecutions. They stated that they regretted ‘that the situation has reached this point’ [6], but they felt that it was necessary to ‘sound the alarm on an Access to Justice crisis’ [6]. The CBA has claimed the Department of Justice is ‘reluctant even to acknowledge’ this crisis [6]. Furthermore, they accused the Department of having a ‘two-tier approach’ [6] as barristers who represent clients of the State have had an easier time getting a pay increase. Lunny has also claimed that the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland is in danger of backsliding into the problems faced by the English and Welsh criminal justice systems.
The CBA also criticised the Justice Minister Naomi Long for failing to deliver an interim fee uplift at the time she suggested it. The increase was first announced in December 2024 to be in place for May 2025, but that deadline was not met and stated that January 2026 would be the earliest to be delivered. Lunny has also claimed that the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland is in danger of backsliding into the problems faced by the English and Welsh criminal justice systems. Long had stated that crown legal aid fees would receive a 16% increase the day the strike began, but Lunny, feeling that this was too little, stated that when adjusted for inflation of the last 10 years, the fees should actually go up by around 30%. Long speaking on BBC Radio Good Morning Ulster programme on Friday the 9th of January stated that her department does not have adequate funds to meet this demand and the 30% pay increase is “not a realistic prospect” [7]. She argued that the 16% increase she proposed “isn’t a relatively small amount…it will cost us well over £6m, now that may be a small amount to some barristers, but it certainly isn’t a small amount to my department given that we barely have enough money to carry out our statutory functions.” [7] On the Nolan Show on Wednesday the 14th of January, she also blamed the struggles of many barristers on “a small number of barristers who are hoarding cases” such as one barrister she claimed earned more than £3.8 million from legal aid, the equivalent to what 53 other barristers would earn in total [3]. This claim was later proven to be misleading as that barrister had been earning £3.98 million over a period of 3 years, which ended last September. Long, who has stated that she is “profoundly disappointed and frustrated” [8] by the actions of the CBA, which she claims “will not achieve anything or advance their arguments” [8].
The Victims of Crime Commissioner Designate, Geraldine Hanna, stated that the strike has left her feeling ‘really angry’ [9] and has stated that 94 cases have been delayed due to the strike, including cases of murder, domestic/sexual violence and hate crime, which Hanna iterates will add to the continuing trauma for victims. She highlighted that the strike would lead to long delays, which has a particular impact on children involved in cases as it ‘puts years of their lives on hold’ [8]. Although she sympathises with the grievances of the barristers but added that “I don’t believe that bringing down the whole system is the answer to this” [8].
I spoke with John Taggart, Lecturer of Law at Queen’s and Director of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and he informed me that in 2024, Judge Tom Burgess completed a review of legal aid and found that since 2005, most legal aid fees have decreased by between 53% and 63%. Dr Taggart also addressed the Justice Minister’s claim that some barristers take on ‘too many’ cases and that cases should be evenly distributed. Dr Taggart believes this will be hard to achieve as solicitors instruct barristers to take on cases and barristers cannot be blamed for taking on too many cases, as this speaks more to their experience and skill. When addressing the disparity gap of the earnings between many barristers, Dr Taggart revealed that the fees earned by barristers can be found online, including a list of the top 100 best earning solicitor firms and barristers published by the Department of Justice 10 years ago.
A statement by the CBA acknowledged that the strike “will have a profound impact on Northern Ireland’s criminal justice system, including upon victims of crime, defendants and civilian witnesses” [9] and stated that they have met with affected groups in advance of the strike. They have repeatedly insisted that the strike is a last resort and their actions are taken only to mitigate the worst effects it may have on the most vulnerable victims. Seemingly, the strike will continue until dialogue begins between the CBA and the Department of Justice.
References:
[1] RTÉ News, ‘Criminal barristers in NI to strike over crown court fees’ in RTE.ie (2026) https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2026/0105/1551484-criminal-barristers-strike/
[2] The Bar of Northern Ireland, ‘Escalated CBA withdrawal of services begins | The Bar of Northern Ireland’ in Barofni.com, 2026 https://www.barofni.com/news/escalated-cba-withdrawal-of-services-begins
[3] BBC News. “Barrister Strike: Northern Ireland Strike Halts 12 High Risk Cases.” BBC News, January 14, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje1l4xze29o
[4] Government Digital Service, ‘Legal aid’ in GOV.UK, 2011 https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid
[5] Department of Justice, ‘Headline Statistics’ in Nisra.gov.uk, 2022 https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/LSANI/Headline-Statistics-2024-25.html
[6] The Bar of Northern Ireland, ‘CBA votes to Extend Withdrawal of Services | The Bar of Northern Ireland’ in Barofni.com, 2025 https://www.barofni.com/news/cba-votes-to-extend-withdrawal-of-services
[7] Barrister strike: Pay uplift “not a realistic prospect”, says Naomi Long’ in BBC News, 9 Jan. 2026 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyzjpjzrqqo
[8] BBC News, ‘Barristers’ strike “devastating” for crime victims’ in BBC News, 5 Jan. 2026 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20zen1n6ezo
[9] BBC News, ‘Barristers set to escalate strike over legally aided cases’ in BBC News, 12 Dec. 2025 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vjj1ly1kjo
