Barristers' fees for criminal trials have been doubled under an agreement reached between the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Bar Council. The increase, which applies to both prosecution and defence counsel, brings fees for criminal cases into line with those paid for civil work, according to the secretary of the Bar Council, Mr Fergal Foley.
Under the agreement, the case fee for a senior counsel in a murder trial in the Central Criminal Court has gone from between about £1,500 and £2,000 to £5,000. The refresher fee for a senior counsel - which is paid on a daily basis for second and subsequent days - is £1,500, an increase of about £750.
The case fee for a junior counsel in the same trial is now around £3,333, or two-thirds of what a senior counsel is paid. The refresher fee is £1,000 a day.
The case fee at a trial at the Circuit Criminal Court has risen from £404 to £800 for a junior counsel and to £1,200 for a senior counsel. The refresher fee has gone from £202 to £400 for a junior and to £600 for a senior. Mr Foley said he presumed there would be an increase in barristers' fees for the Special Criminal Court as well, but this had not been agreed yet.
Fees for criminal work were "totally out of proportion" with comparable civil cases, he said. The Bar Council saw no difference between the work by counsel in a difficult murder or rape case and a complex non-jury civil case.
Mr Foley said the Bar Council had been negotiating criminal court fees with the DPP's office since 1991. The current agreement, which came into effect last month, was reached between the Bar Council and the DPP's office. The DPP's office pays the fees of prosecuting barristers in criminal cases, while the Department of Justice pays the fees of defence barristers under the Criminal Legal Aid scheme.
Mr Foley said: "I've no doubt that a lot of people think that barristers are earning too much money, but that only applies to a limited number of barristers. The amount paid to criminal barristers has always been smaller than that paid to civil barristers. There are also huge arrears out there.