CBA warns of implications of 'haemorrhaging' of criminal barristers

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has stated that “without a dramatic increase in funding, the haemorrhaging of talented barristers will continue”, in an interim response to the Independent Criminal Legal Aid Review. It continued: “The end result will be barristers of insufficient number and quality to prosecute and defend criminal cases, and a system that ceases to have any semblance of a functioning public service for criminal justice.” The CBA said the review is unnecessary given the problems are so obvious.