Thanks to Coronapop waiting lists are getting longer and longer. This is not just in health care settings, but also in our Courts of Justice. People are being denied justice which is obviously unjust. There are 51,000 alleged criminals awaiting trial. So proposals have been put forward to speed up the courts by extending their opening hours. This doesn’t seem unreasonable,, since many organisations have had to change their working practices.
However nothing is simple when it comes to the law. The legal profession is steeped in hundreds of years of tradition. The whigs and gowns are testimony to that.
The legal eagles, our highly paid barristers, are considering it, which could take a year or two. Some are horrified by the obvious injustice of having to work before they have had time to read the morning paper or even worse if they can’t get home in time for afternoon tea.
So serious is the situation that strike action is threatened in the new year. They are concerned that after been called to the bar, the bar has now been closed by the Coronapop lockdown, so impoverished barristers are struggling to make ends meet.
One thought being put forward is the possibility of improved compensation for working longer hours. Maybe double time legal aid for a 9am start and for weekends perhaps triple time and free meals.
If an agreement can’t be reached, the barristers believe they will have a strong case for discrimination and will sue for strike pay. Of course, if they are on strike it will be difficult to find a barrister to represent them. They may have to fall back on a barista to grind out their case 🤡