The Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan, warned in her address on the opening of the new legal year earlier this week that cumulative budget cuts are endangering “the timely payment of the legal profession”.

A previous strike by Northern Ireland lawyers in 2015–16 over legal aid pay rates was brought to a mediated end which included a commitment by the Department of Justice to prompt payments.

Former justice minister Naomi Long told Irish Legal News last year that a strike could have “catastrophic effects” on the recovery of the Northern Ireland courts from the pandemic, but added: “I totally understand that, when they are facing a situation where they may not be paid for work done for many months, they have to consider all their options.”

Moira Smyth KC, chair of the Bar Council, said the profession is “now reaching a cliff edge in terms of legal aid payment times and rates”.

“Whilst acutely aware of the overall budget position across public spending in Northern Ireland, the Bar Council believes that a crisis point has been reached in the context of an increased workload, as courts strive to speed up justice and address the Covid-related backlog of cases,” she said.

“The Bar strongly supports this policy of increased court activity and has consistently advocated for measures that enable improved access to justice.

“However, any such policy must be adequately funded by government and the Department of Justice’s decision to limit the money that it will pay out for work done by barristers this year by slowing down payments for work already done is unacceptable and likely to cause real hardship for junior barristers in particular.

“Publicly funded legal services exist to help the most vulnerable citizens in our society who face the most challenging of circumstances. They deserve to be spared the added concern and potential delay that would inevitably arise if the service they depend upon is no longer viable due to under-funding.

“In choosing to apply payment delays as a budget management measure, the Department of Justice is placing barristers in a wholly unsatisfactory and unprecedented position whereby they, rather than the public purse public funding, are effectively funding financing the delivery of a vital demand-led public service which is at the core of access to justice.

“Lawyers performing this work are relied upon by their clients and make an important contribution to society and the local economy. The Department’s policy is creating real and repercussive economic challenges for legal practitioners across the region, especially younger and female barristers who are particularly exposed to cashflow pressures.

“While payment delays and stagnant fees have been an issue for practitioners for some time now, these unprecedented payment delays, which will result in several further months without payment, now present a risk to the viability of legal aid as a public service.”

She added: “The very future of publicly funded legal services is at risk and the Bar of NI is prepared to challenge the generational harm that will be inflicted upon our legal and justice system.”