Single regime: barrister chief calls for supporting fee scheme

Inadequate fees for barristers could scupper attempts to speed up criminal cases through the new single rule-book for the courts, the chairman of the Bar Council has warned.


In a letter to barristers last week, Guy Mansfield QC said bringing in the new Criminal Procedure Rules (CrPR) before setting up a supporting fee scheme was unsatisfactory.


The CrPR - which condense 50 different sets of rules into one structure and took effect this week - are designed to ensure that unnecessary hearings are avoided and trials are properly and efficiently conducted. They require trial counsel to undertake detailed preparation at a much earlier stage and all involved to adopt a proactive approach to case management.


Mr Mansfield stressed that while the bar supported the 'long overdue' changes, they will cause a significantly increased workload for barristers. Reasonable remuneration should have been put in place first, he said.


He was also critical of the cuts in fees for guilty pleas and cracked trials, extra unremunerated work barristers will have to do under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, and the graduated fee rates for short one-to-ten day cases that have remained unchanged for a decade.


Mr Mansfield said: 'The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has made no adjustments to reflect the substantial changes in practices and the risks that practitioners face. This must take place as a matter of urgency.'


A DCA spokeswoman said: 'The government is considering with the Bar Council and the Law Society how cracked trials and guilty pleas can be reformed and how pilots testing the new CrPR can be supported by fees systems.'