Criminals barristers in England and Wales are to vote over a national walkout on 1 July in protest at low fees, which they say can be as low as £46.50 for a day in court.

The Criminal Bar Association’s (CBA) announcement of a ballot, among thousands of lawyers who carry out defence and prosecution work, marks a sharp escalation in the long-running dispute over payment for legal work.

The threat of bringing the criminal courts to a standstill comes as the government, drifting towards political paralysis over Brexit, appears vulnerable and may be thought more likely to settle.

Under austerity measures, the Ministry of Justice has suffered deeper cuts to its budget than any other Whitehall department. For years, fees were not upgraded in line with inflation.

This week, the former president of the supreme court, Lord Neuberger, warned further cuts would lead to a “breakdown of the rule of law”.

The CBA’s membership ballot, which opens on Friday and closes at 5pm on Tuesday 4 June, also calls for further disruptive action, including a “national criminal justice summit”, taking training days with solicitors and adopting a policy of “no returns” – refusing to cover for transferred casework from barristers who cannot attend court on a certain date.

Chris Henley QC, the chair of the CBA, told members: “If you vote for action the responsibility lies solely with the senior management of the Crown Prosecution Service and government ministers who … claim to care about victims of crime yet have failed to intervene.

“The CBA understands its responsibility to the profession, and to the wider public, to safeguard and champion the highest possible standards in the criminal courts, but this requires publicly funded lawyers to be able to see a sustainable and viable financial future ahead of them. It is astonishing and shameful how wilfully and casually those with the power to choose are risking complete professional collapse.” Read more

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