No returns: Disruption minimal as backup helpline attracts 19 volunteers

A Legal Aid Agency helpline set up to provide back-up advocacy during the criminal bar’s ‘no returns’ action registered 19 ‘contacts’, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

Last month the agency refused to confirm how many providers with higher court advocates volunteered to be added to the agency’s helpline - which was widely seen as a bid to undermine the criminal bar’s action – telling the Gazette a freedom of information request would need to be submitted.

The Gazette duly submitted a request on 20 April but has yet to receive a response despite the statutory deadline of 19 May. However, the answer to how many providers came forward was disclosed in response to a written parliamentary question from shadow justice minister Afzal Khan.

Justice minister James Cartlidge said 19 contacts were registered when the Crown court representation helpline launched on 20 April.

‘The helpline does not require higher court advocates to be registered individually. Therefore, some of the registered contacts may have multiple higher court advocates available to provide advocacy services in the Crown Court. The number of registered contacts is subject to fluctuation,’ the minister added.

‘The Crown Court Representation Helpline is in place to make the process of identifying higher court advocates easier for providers who may be impacted by barristers declining to accept returns in defence cases as part of national Criminal Bar Association disruptive action. Providers are not limited to instructing higher court advocates registered with the helpline. The Public Defender Service may also be able to provide advocacy support where cases have been impacted by the no returns action.’

Cartlidge also provided figures for how many hearings have been disrupted by the criminal bar’s action, which began on 11 April:

The ministry’s figures suggest the impact of ‘no returns’ has been small. Footnotes provided by the department states that each day of the trial is counted separately in the listed hearings total – so a trial lasting two weeks would appear 10 times in the daily lists and would be counted as 10 hearings. The figures exclude hearings that went ahead without an assigned barrister. Each trial disrupted by the operation of the ‘no returns’ protocol is counted on the day it is disrupted. The figures were extracted from ‘live case management systems’ and have not been verified to the same standards as national statistics.

A Criminal Bar Association spokesperson said: 'These figures show 773 non trial hearings disrupted on the day because of the absence of defence counsel over just an 18 working day period and another 140 trial hearings disrupted on the day over the same 18 day period because of no defence counsel. Further these figures exclude a very large number of both non trial and trial hearings reported to the CBA by members which have been postponed administratively by list officers without hearings being listed.'

Regardless, the figures are likely to get worse as London criminal defence solicitors prepare to join the criminal bar’s action by refusing to take on poorly paid work from tomorrow. Barristers will be balloted next month on taking ‘more disruptive’ action.