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The criminal justice system in England and Wales is facing significant challenges, illustrated by faulty court facilities, malfunctioning heating systems, and a vast backlog exceeding 79,000 criminal cases. Many victims and defendants find themselves waiting years before their cases go to trial, raising serious concerns about the capacity and resilience of those working within the system. For barristers navigating these difficulties daily, the pressure is mounting, and the question is how much longer they can endure such demanding conditions.
Emma Fielding, a barrister covering regions from Chelmsford to Norfolk, initially saw the profession as an exciting career choice. “When I saw someone in court standing up and doing a trial, I thought ‘I could do that one day’. It looked like a lot of fun,” she recalls. However, her enthusiasm has been tempered by the harsh realities she now faces. She admits, “It’s just not possible to even keep up with the cases that are coming in, let alone try and bring that [backlog] number down.” Fielding’s experience is far from unique; according to the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), one in three criminal barristers are currently considering leaving their jobs. The relentless demands have forced many to cancel holidays, and for some, the strain has even caused marital breakdowns, with a startling 35% working seven-day weeks.
Within the court environment, challenging stories are shared in private, including accounts of barristers attending court despite illness or personal crises such as miscarriages. Fielding reveals the uncompromising expectations: “If you as counsel say ‘I’m not feeling well’, the answer will be ‘drag yourself to court because we can’t stop this case for you’.” She has also faced criticism from judges who have accused her of being motivated by money. Yet this perception stands in stark contrast to her pay, which amounts to just £100 for a sentencing hearing, a fee that fails to reflect the hours of preparation and emotional labor involved. Like many of her colleagues, Fielding works as a self-employed professional juggling intensive workloads with modest financial reward.
The root causes of the current crisis, Fielding explains, extend beyond the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the pandemic aggravated delays with suspended jury trials and remote hearings, she stresses that “there was always a significant backlog and there are courts being closed across the country.” A systemic lack of funding is identified as a primary factor in the justice system’s decline. The government has responded by allocating £148.5 million toward court maintenance and improvements in key cities, alongside scheduling a record number of crown court sitting days. Nevertheless, these measures have not alleviated the mounting case pressure, prompting proposals such as Justice Secretary David Lammy’s plan to exclude jury trials for certain sentences under three years as part of broader reforms.
For younger barristers like Matilda Robinson-Murphy, the mounting backlog and demands are deeply worrisome. “It’s unbelievable and depressing,” she comments, describing the extended workdays and intrusion into personal life—balanced alongside parenting twins. Robinson-Murphy is particularly distressed by the frequent collapse of sexual and domestic abuse cases, often due to victims withdrawing after protracted delays. She explains, “Victims turn up with their family and they wait all day, only to be told at 3pm the trial will now be heard in 2028,” adding that such waits cause many to retract their statements. This erosion of cases has wide-ranging consequences,
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