Criminal Practitioner Association could represent the ‘hard stick’ in negotiations with the government on criminal legal aid

Earlier this month, Edward Henry KC set up a poll on Twitter asking solicitors and barristers if they would join a ‘Criminal Practitioner Association’ that would ‘negotiate what’s right on your behalf, for fair financial compensation, reasonable working hours and the mitigation of regulatory burdens’.

The poll, which was prompted by the news that a young barrister who showed ‘undoubted promise’ was leaving the criminal bar to do family work, would represent the interests of both solicitors and barrister and provide a ‘hard stick’ in negotiations with the government on criminal legal aid.

‘We have got to do something differently,’ says Edward Henry KC. ‘I’m asking for a debate and try and develop a community so that criminal practitioners, individuals, can coalesce and act in concert.’

The poll closes next week.

#CriminalPractionerAssociation if you are a solicitor or barrister would you join this joint association to negotiate what’s right on your behalf, for fair financial compensation, reasonable working hours, & the mitigation of regulatory burdens?— Edward Henry KC (@edwardhenry1) January 4, 2022

The article can be viewed in full on The Law Society Gazette website.