Criminal barristers to get bumper payout for increased court work, even before hike in pay rates

Barristers participating in the Criminal Legal Aid scheme are set for a bumper payout in 2023 due to increased court work – even before the recently announced 10 per cent rate hike comes into effect.

This follows new figures provided by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, confirming that the overall pay of barristers on the Criminal Legal Aid scheme is on course to increase by 33 per cent to €38.4 million this year.

Earlier this month, Ms McEntee announced an additional €9 million for the Criminal Legal Aid scheme for next year that would fund a 10 per cent increase in rates for criminal legal aid barristers in 2024.

DPP-led prosecution work will also be paid more since, by law, parity must exist for prosecutors and defence lawyers.

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The pay rate increase followed barristers’ effective pay campaign which culminated in members of the criminal bar withdrawing their services on October 3rd in protest at the failure by Government to restore a 10 per cent cut in rates imposed in 2011.

However, the new figures provided by Ms McEntee show that to the end of August this year, criminal law barristers received €25.6 million under the Criminal Legal Aid scheme – which represents 88.5 per cent of the 12-month payout of €28.9 million for 2022.

In her written reply to Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly, Ms McEntee has projected that the total Criminal Legal Aid scheme payout to defence barristers for 2023 will be €38.4 million – €9.5 million more than the 2022 total.

The €25.6 million payout for the first eight months of this year is also higher than the €23.3 million paid out to defence barristers in the pre-Covid-19 year of 2019, but short of the €27.9 million paid out in 2021.

The barristers have shared the overall hike in pay due to an increased workload in the courts this year.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said on Friday that “the reason for the almost €10 million or 32 per cent (projected) increase in 2023 can be explained by the increased number and complexity of cases”.

He said: “Increased number of judges means increase in number of cases. Cases have also become more complex owing to mobile phones, CCTV and internet. There is still a catch-up from the pandemic going on.”

[ ‘If I wanted to get rich, I wouldn’t be doing criminal legal aid work - I want to get paid promptly for what I do’ ]

[ Reversal of 10% criminal legal aid fee cuts welcomed by Bar council as ‘important and necessary first step’ ]

Barristers who deal with the most serious crimes such as murder and rape are earning more due to an increased workload as over the past three years the number of judges at the Central Criminal Court has increased from four to nine, resulting in a significant increase in the level of activity in this court.

A spokesman for the Bar Council said on Friday: “The expenditure on legal aid is demand-led; and, as the Department of Justice have outlined, changes from year to year can depend on level of activity, complexity of matters, and throughput through the courts. Matters delayed due to Covid are also now coming through the system.”

Earlier this month, welcoming the 10 per cent pay restoration, Bar Council chair Sara Phelan said: “All we have been seeking on behalf of our members is that they are treated fairly. The fact is that barristers have been treated differently to other workers in the criminal justice system, and to other workers who are paid by the State, for many years.”

The largest proportion of barristers practice as junior counsel and they receive a brief fee of €4,752 for a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court along with a refresher or daily fee of €1,041, while junior counsel receive a brief fee of €1,144 in the Circuit Court along with a refresher or daily fee of €572.