The ‘dire state’ of the UK’s criminal justice system has led both criminal solicitors’ associations to urge lawyers to join union Unite.
The Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA) and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA) have announced they will be working with Unite and will promote it to all criminal solicitors.
Fadi Daoud, president of the LCCSA and Daniel Bonich, chair of the CLSA, jointly stated that the move was a response to the current poor condition of the justice apparatus and would allow the bodies to “exercise their voices collectively”. They added: “The criminal justice system in this country is in a dire state. Solicitors specialising in criminal defence are beleaguered and exiting the profession at record rates. We cannot go on like this. For this reason, the committees of the LCCSA and CLSA have agreed to encourage members to join Unite and so put solicitors on the front foot by improving our bargaining position with the government as we fight to save our broken justice system.”
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The two bodies said that one of the advantages of being members of Unite was the union’s ability to “coordinate industrial action if the membership, us, vote for it”. The Law Society and practitioner groups cannot call for solicitors to take collective action as this could be in breach of competition law.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “This is a ground-breaking agreement which marks a turning point for solicitors. Whether its increasing workloads, stagnating pay or recruitment, and retention issues there has never been a better time for solicitors to be a part of Unite.”
She added Unite was hoping to improve the jobs, pay and conditions of all solicitors, and added: “Unite stands ready to support solicitors and all staff in the industry in campaigning for vital changes in our legal sector.”
The CLSA and LCCSA said to fight the crisis in legal aid meant gaining more support than the Law Society could provide: “those working in legal aid have not yet had a major union fighting for their pay and conditions on a large scale and in a way that is both professional and coordinated”.
The bodies said that the Law Society did important lobbying work and made legal challenges to block unlawful decision making but “in spite of these efforts, pressures on legal workers have increased while pay rates have stagnated or gone backwards. Recruitment, retention and the mental and physical health of lawyers and legal workers are at an all-time low. This situation cannot continue.”
The committees said the “fight for access to justice” and the wellbeing of all “who strive to deliver it” was too important not to take to the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Aid Agency.
They said the decision to recommend Unite came after months of consultation with trade unions, with Unite considered the best option because not only was it the largest trade union in the country, but it also already had an established legal branch “with funds to commit to our cause”, with organisers and campaign tools “to help us speak directly to the government”.
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