Lady Chief Justice calls for talks to resolve criminal barristers’ strike

Northern Ireland’s most senior judge has urged all sides to have talks to resolve a strike by barristers in criminal cases which is causing “paralysis” in the crown courts.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan also said she needed more courts and more judges in order to tackle delays in the criminal justice system.

Dame Siobhan appeared at a meeting of the Stormont Justice Committee when it sat in the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday.

She told MLAs that she understood why people were “exercised” by delays in their cases being dealt with.

She said: “There are consequences for everyone, not least those who are within the criminal justice process, and the victims of crime and their families are people who just cannot understand why their cases are taking too long.

“Delay impacts upon defendants as well.

“What it can come down to is a lack of fairness potentially being argued in a case because it’s gone on so long, it can increase costs…. and there’s a danger that can diminish public confidence.”

Dame Siobhan insisted that the courts system was working but said it “could be better”.

She said she believed the judiciary was in a “good place” last year to deal with a backlog of cases, but things had “gone a little bit backwards” since then.

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland started strike action this month in a long-running dispute over the fees paid for legal aid work.

The escalated action has effectively halted crown court cases involving those who require legal aid.

The Lady Chief Justice said there were currently 62% more defendants before the courts than in March 2020, and that judges were having to deal with more a higher number of more complex cases.

She said: “We have the legal profession, who are in a position where they’re saying their remuneration for these more difficult cases needs to be looked at.

“So that’s compounding the issue and I’m very worried about that because it compounds the delay that we have in the system that we’ve been trying to work with.”

She added: “We don’t have enough courts, we don’t have enough crown courts.

“I have successfully argued that we should have 15 crown courts operating, that was an increase from 13.

“But I’ve said, if you give me 17 I can really make more of an inroad into crown court cases.

“I need more judges to deal with crown court cases.”

Dame Siobhan said court delays in Northern Ireland are “not at the same level” as in England and Wales.

She said: “Their delay, their crown court backlog, is over 79,000, they’re not listing cases until 2030.

Dame Siobhan said in Northern Ireland, cases are still being listed within this year.

She added: “But if we continue to have a paralysis in the crown courts operating, I’m worried about that being pushed back, and I’m worried about how we pick that up, and victims are rightly annoyed and making their case about this.

“My concern is to keep courts operating and to maintain public confidence in our courts.

“I’m not part of the Department (of Justice) or the bar or the solicitors, but I’ve staked my claim that they need to talk and sort the dispute out sooner rather than later.”