Garden Court North Chambers will not take any criminal work under representation orders dated from 1st April 2018
1 March 2018
We believe the latest version of the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme, which is due to be introduced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on 1st April 2018, will result in a significant overall cut in fees.
This is the latest indication that the MoJ is prepared to treat with contempt the legal professionals without whose hard work and dedication the Criminal Justice System would not be able to function.
Continual government cuts threaten the existence of chambers like Garden Court North Chambers and many others. Under the new scheme we believe we would no longer have the resources to carry out properly the work that would be expected of us in defending people charged with serious criminal offences.
In our view, the future of the publicly funded criminal bar is at stake.
In the wake of today’s announcement by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) and in order to concentrate the minds at the MoJ on the proposals made by the CBA for the implementation of new scheme to be halted, Garden Court North Chambers will not be undertaking any publicly funded criminal work with legal aid certificates dated from 1st April 2018.
We trust that our colleagues at the criminal bar will take a similar position. We are fully committed to supporting the CBA and will consider implementing further action as and when that appears to us to be appropriate.
