Monday Message 30.06.25
The latest MOJ statistics:
The backlog, as at 31st March 2025, stood at 76,957 cases. The backlog on adult rape cases has increased by 30% in 2024-2025 with the backlog in sexual offences increasing by 18%.
Between January and March 2025, a record 5,889 trials were vacated. The sixth-month period of October 2024-March 2025 saw 10,933 trials vacated. In that same period, 3,867 trials were adjourned on the day of the hearing. That amounts to a record 14,800 trials being further delayed, with the inevitable trauma for all participants.
In August 2024, HMCTS advised that the maximum number of Crown Court sitting days was 113,000. In December 2024, a cap of 110,000 sitting days was imposed for 2025/2026.
Today, Snaresbrook has four of its twenty court rooms closed and the Old Bailey has four of its eighteen court rooms closed. It is disheartening for the Resident Judges, the barristers and all court users.
Whatever radical reforms are suggested in the coming months, we anticipate that the vast majority of serious criminal offences will remain within the Crown Court. Unlimited sitting days would ease the trauma for those waiting for their case to be heard. We were advised that we would receive the data upon which these radical reforms are based. We still await its receipt.
The Bar Council’s Pupil Survey Report 2025:
We are grateful for the Bar Council survey on pupillage. It appears that 39% of applicants secured pupillage in their first round. Of those who gained pupillage, 14% were neurodivergent. Stress-levels were recorded at 88%. The median debt level in order to qualify was £50,000-£59,999. Four in ten pupils indicated that they were in some degree of financial hardship with those in crime being twice as likely to be in financial hardship than those in other practice areas. Regrettably, across all of the practice areas, men were twice as likely as women to receive high pupillage awards of £60,000 or more. Such awards are also more likely to be given to those who are not the first in their family to attend university. Those practice areas which offer this level of award will no doubt be considering how this is continuing to occur.
Only one third of pupils across all disciplines would recommend the profession as a career path.
Common complaints included excessive last-minute workloads, a lack of work-life balance and inflexible working conditions. The financial complexities of self-employment and the costs of travel were other concerns.
Just over one third of the respondents were pupils at the criminal Bar. Of those, 79% expressed concerns with the backlog of cases, listing, technical difficulties with CVP hearings, lack of time to prepare and the unavailability of counsel. Of pupils working in crime, 52% indicated that their career at the criminal Bar was viable. Inadequate remuneration was the major concern. Pupils working in crime were three times more likely to be worried about the sustainability of a career at the criminal Bar.
Two thirds of respondents were registered on the South Eastern Circuit with the remaining one third undertaking pupillage across all other Circuits. Employed pupils amounted to 11%. The results repeatedly highlight lower satisfaction levels amongst pupils with a disability.
The BSB Ethics Exam was widely criticised for its unfairness. It was described as stressful.
Recruitment and retention:
For us to continue to recruit and retain our pupils within the criminal Bar we will require the Government to focus on the results of this survey, the CBA National Survey 2025 and the radical reforms to the criminal justice system that they wish to implement. Recruitment and retention are vitally important for the future of the profession and for the ability of the criminal justice system to function. Potential matched pupillage funding schemes can only work if people remain at the criminal Bar. The reasons that barristers are leaving have been demonstrated by careful statistical analysis and by two independent Government-commissioned reports.
Breastfeeding at Court:
We were asked to raise the issue of facilities to express milk and to breastfeed at courts across England and Wales. The HMCTS do facilitate this. We are grateful that HMCTS are currently updating this policy which is now of some age. Their current policy can be found here.
The Sentencing Council:
The Sentencing Council has published a package of definitive ancillary orders guidance, covering 29 different types of order including matters such as compensation, criminal behaviour orders, football banning orders and restraining orders. The guidance will come into force on 1st July.
The guidance is available to download from their website. They have also published a response to the consultation.
Senior Treasury Counsel Pre-Application Mentor Scheme:
The CPS are attempting to widen the pool of Treasury Counsel so as to enable talented candidates from all sets of Chambers to apply and to have the same opportunities during the mentoring process. The pre-application mentoring scheme is a method of encouraging equal opportunity. The application window is open from the 9th July until 5th August 2025.
This is a welcome initiative by the CPS to widen the application and intake for Senior Treasury Counsel (Crime) positions. It seeks to identify and support experienced advocates who aspire to become Senior Treasury Counsel, by a combination of “One-to-one mentoring, job shadowing opportunities, and stakeholder conversations.” We hope that the list of Treasury Counsel, as a result of this and other initiatives by the CPS, will mean, in the future, that Treasury Counsel come from across England and Wales and from a broad selection of Chambers.
Live question and answer session – 8th July 2025:
To support the launch of the 2025 Pathway, the Chair of the Treasury Counsel Committee will host a live Question and Answer session, together with First Senior Treasury Counsel, Tom Little KC, at 6:30pm. Interested candidates can book their place by completing the form on the website.
Applicants must be barristers or solicitors with higher court advocacy rights who are not based at the same chambers as current members of Treasury Counsel and have a minimum of 15 years’ advocacy experience – currently operating at CPS Advocate Panel Level 4 (or the equivalent for defence practitioners) or have taken Silk.
Advocates who meet the eligibility criteria are required to complete a written application and provide referee details. You can find out more about Treasury Counsel on the CPS website, including testimonials from current monitorees and interviews with Treasury Counsel. Email any queries to [email protected]..
Courtenay Delsdue McVay Griffiths KC:
The profession mourns the loss of Courtenay Griffiths KC who passed on the 23rd June 2025 after a long illness. Courtenay was born in Jamaica and moved with his family to Coventry in 1961. He read law at LSE and was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1980. His pupillage was at 2 Garden Court. He was a member of the Society of Black Lawyers and was amongst the most vocal and persuasive opponents of Jack Straw’s plan to remove the right to trial by jury for those accused of crime. Courtenay argued that this would significantly impact upon the confidence that minority communities held in the justice system. For many years he was Chair of the Bar’s Race Relations Committee.
He took Silk in 1998,was joint head of Garden Court chambers from 1999-2012 and served as a Recorder from 2000-2014. He was also a tenant at 25 Bedford Row. He was a Bencher at Gray’s Inn.
Courtenay would say that there was a degree of uniqueness, not one that he particularly favoured, at this point in history, that came with being a black Silk. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends. May he rest in peace.
Yours,
Mary Prior KC
Chair, The Criminal Bar Association