UK dispatch: Bar Council announces necessary Treasury funding secured to bridge gap between prosecution and defence fees Dispatches
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UK dispatch: Bar Council announces necessary Treasury funding secured to bridge gap between prosecution and defence fees

James Joseph is a UK staff correspondent for JURIST.

The Bar Council of England and Wales announced Saturday they have secured necessary additional funding from His Majesty’s Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, allowing them to “press ahead with increases in prosecution fees to restore parity with defence fees”.

Announcing on Twitter, the Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill KC said:

The statement from the Bar Council reads “[The Director of Public Prosecutions] announces that prosecution barristers’ fees will increase to achieve parity with the defence. This has been hard fought for by The Criminal Bar alongside the PS and the Bar Council and with support by key politicians. The CBA already is working on the detail alongside the CPS.”

This comes as The Treasury confirmed the increase to legal aid will be 15% and that the operational period is 8 weeks, applying to hearings after implementation date.

The Criminal Bar Association also tweeted to say that that the increase “will apply to backlog cases and The Criminal Bar is pushing for sooner-having previously managed to reduce original timeline of 12 weeks but reiterates thanks to Crown Prosecution Service & politicians & His Majesty’s Treasury for the increase achieved.

 

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