Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland have begun a month-long boycott of legal aid-funded cases in the Crown Courts amid an ongoing dispute over fees.
The withdrawal of services from Monday means that members of the Criminal Bar Association are not appearing in legally aided crown court cases for the rest of January.
Last November, criminal barristers announced they would be refusing instructions in any new legal aid-funded cases for the most serious type of offence, marking a further escalation of the bar’s dispute with the Department of Justice.
READ MORE: Northern Ireland teachers vote for industrial action in dispute over pay
READ MORE: Unions welcome NI Health Minister commitment to pay award and back pay
Justice Minister Naomi Long said she was “disappointed” by the action, adding that it would impact “most acutely on the victims and witnesses who are waiting to give evidence and receive justice”.
This marks the first round of strike action we will see across NI in 2025. Just before Christmas, members of the three main teaching unions here voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over pay.
It followed a ballot by the Ulster Teachers' Union, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation and NASUWT over what they called a lack of a satisfactory pay offer for 2024/25 and came six months after teachers had accepted a pay offer of more than 10% for the years from 2021 to 2024.
Teachers in Northern Ireland have yet to receive a formal pay offer for this academic year while teachers in England and Wales received a 5.5% pay uplift. At the time, the unions said no strike dates had yet been set by the unions as talks with the Department of Education and Education Authority remained ongoing.
But it has now emerged that NASUWT members have been told that industrial action “short of strike” should begin as early as next week. In a letter to its members, the NASUWT said the action should take “effect from 13 January 2025″.
In the past, action short of strike action has impacted teaching covering for other staff, overseeing exams, lesson plans, inspections and school meetings.
The unions have urged the Department of Education to bring forward a “realistic offer” that recognises their worth and takes into account the cost of living. Stormont's Education Minister Paul Givan previously expressed his disappointment at the decision by the teachers’ unions to ballot their members for industrial action.
Elsewhere, last month saw trade unions representing NI health workers welcoming a formal commitment from the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt that pay parity for AFC bands will be maintained for the full 2024/25 year.
The pay rise of 5.5% matched offers given to healthcare workers in England and Wales. It means that health workers will receive 10 months worth of retrospective pay in their March 2025 pay packets, with the unions saying that there are plans to secure funding for the remaining two months. A Pay Review Body pay award of 5.5% is also being prepared.
Unison said the move was good news and strike action had been avoided while the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also welcomed the offer. But the union Nipsa said it would not be accepting the offer in its current form as it is committed to securing a guarantee of 12 months back pay.
Last November, unions warned of "large-scale industrial action across the health service" in Northern Ireland if staff do not have pay parity with the rest of the UK. The news comes after Mr Nesbitt raised the prospect that he would not be able to match pay deals being given to healthcare staff in other parts of the UK.
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