Kilkenny criminal barristers protest outside local courthouse

Criminal barristers who practice in Kilkenny made a stand outside the city courthouse, today, as part of their campaign for fee restoration for barristers that work for the state.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) were introduced in 2009 in response to the financial crisis.

Speaking to KilkennyLive today, Sara Phelan, Chair of the Council of the Bar in Ireland and a Kilkenny resident, said barristers are frustrated and annoyed that they are the only group who have not seen their fees restored since FEMPI.

"If I go into court the judge has had their salary cuts restored, the courts service have had their curs restored, the gardaí and state solicitor has had their salary cuts restored, the probation officers have had their salary cuts restored." Ms Phelan said barrister are being treated differently to everyone else and they don't see why.

Cuts to barristers' legal fees were made in 2009 and 2011. As well as this a fee increase agreed in 2008 had never been implemented.

Ms Phelan said barristers feel they are being taken for granted.

"If we were looking for a pay increase we would have to justify that, and I think we could, but we are not looking for an increase, we are just looking for restoration," Ms Phelan said.

The barristers first took the unprecedented protest action last October. Today's protest will the last before the government announcement of the Budget in October.

The Council of the Bar has written to government. The Department of Expenditure have replied to say it is the Minister for Justice who may set and vary fees. Meanwhile, the minister's office says she can't do anything outside the budgetary process. "We are stuck in the middle."

Ms Phelan points out that pay deals with other sectors are concluded outside the budgetary process.

In last year's budget a restoration of 10% of fees was included. In November terms of reference for engagement were sent by the Bar Council to the department. According to Ms Phelan that engagement only began at the end of June.  "Far too little, far too late."

"If the budget (this October) doesn't give us what we need, we will have to go back to members. They are very annoyed and frustrated and feel they are being taken for granted," Ms Phelan said. "If I look into a crystal ball, I expect there will be further action."

The barristers are looking for a commitment to restoration and they are looking for a time scale for that, it's not necessary that it has to be in one go.

That will be up to the members and the incoming Chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Seán Guerin SC, who takes over the role from Ms Phelan in September.

"The Minister for Justice, this time last year, said she could see no good reason why (fees) would not be restored." She also said she didn't want to see barristers on the steps of court houses, Ms Phelan pointed out.

Since 2008 barristers have been on a flat rate for their services, not linked to inflation or other increase scales.

"We don't want to be out on the steps protesting, we want to be in court, doing the job we trained for and that we want to do," Ms Phelan said.

Looking forward to the repercussions of failing to restore barrister fees, Ms Phelan warned practitioners will leave the justice system. "If you are a victim or crime or an accused person, you want your rights vindicated," she said. If  criminal barristers are leaving the system because they can't make a proper living, in the future this will become an 'access to justice' issue.

She said there are stresses on the system already where cases can not run because no barrister is available to take the case, thanks to an ongoing rise in court activity and cases being prosecuted.

Wednesday's protest took place in Kilkenny and at 10 other courthouses, as part of a nationwide withdrawal of service by criminal barristers. This was the final of three planned days of withdrawal this month and is an escalation on the unprecedented action taken by criminal barristers all over the country last October.