Thread by @CrimeGirI

Thread 🧵 from a junior barrister in a defence-only set:

“We have given all we have to give, and it is insulting to hear the government spew lies & misinformation about something that we live & breathe every day. No other profession would stand for this for this long…

..They have dried up the goodwill for too long. We give it our all, for every case. To just list the personal commitments we have given up, only to see the disheartened faces of our loved ones, to hear the hidden disappointment in their voices…

The late nights buzzing on energy drinks to get unpaid written work done on the tightest deadline. Fractured relationships with partners, children who never get to know you, this is all par for the course and expected by the system…

..The emphasis on getting back to work just to not disrupt the court, even in the light of very serious bereavements and illnesses. Expected. Everybody has these stories. We have put on a brave face for too long.

To work every single day, every single evening, every single weekend and every single holiday...that is just not sustainable and that is not right. It's a kick in the teeth that we are expected to do this. And now the government say we shouldn't even get paid for the privilege?

We have given our heart and souls to this job. We have given it our all. We are fighting for the future of this system. The British CJS is a joke and I wish that the world got to see that. The historic leader of worldwide justice is crumbling and it's now or never.

We will not take it any longer.

Just an example of how this job has affected me and how I will no longer let it take from me?

👇

I was a pupil in second six when I got my first crown court trial brief - a 4 day PWITS in November. It was in a warned list of course.

[a warned list means it is a back-up trial, it may not find a court, counsel may not get paid but still has to prepare it in case - CG]

I moved my planned holiday to see my unwell grandmother because of the trial, because I knew it was expected of me and it was made explicitly clear by the court that I had to make myself available for the warned list window. She died a week later, still in the warned list period.

I will never forgive myself.

I neglected travelling abroad to see my widowed grandfather over covid because I knew I was needed here [at work in court] and I knew the excuse of 'I went abroad on holiday and got stuck' was not going to fly with the court system.

He too passed away before I got the chance to see him, even though the world had opened up. I had trials in the diary for months in advance, so booked the trip when I had a clear week.

He died after not seeing him for 2 years, just 2 weeks before I was due to see him.

Please read her messages in full, here.

#barristerstrike ^