Shame of Britain’s justice system as rape complainant told she will have to wait a year for alleged attacker to face trial because NO barristers in entire UK are available to …

The trial of Niumsia Bale-Nailati was due to start at Shrewsbury Crown Court
But there was 'no-one available across the entire country' to prosecute it

Published: 11:50, 4 January 2024 | Updated: 11:56, 4 January 2024

A rape complainant has been told she has to wait a year for her alleged attacker to face trial because there are no barristers available in the entire UK.

The trial of Niumsia Bale-Nailati, 43, was due to open at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday but there was 'no one available across the entire country' to prosecute it.

The judge granted an adjournment to December 2, 2024, as the court heard 'there do not seem to be enough barristers to carry out the work'.

This is the latest in a string of challenges facing rape trials in the UK due to the massive court backlog which reached a record high in 2023.

It comes after figures revealed 146 victims dropped out of cases last year after waiting as long as five years for their accused attacker to face trial.

One of the reasons for the shortage of barristers is the low pay, especially for the newly-qualified - with many going on strike in 2022.

The trial of Niumsia Bale-Nailati, 43, was due to open at Shrewsbury Crown Court, Shropshire

One of the reasons for the court backlog is a shortage of prosecution barristers which has been blamed on low pay.

Pictured are criminal barristers gathered outside the Supreme Court as Kirsty Brimelow QC gives a speech at the beginning of the 2022 strikes over pay

A criminal defence barrister outside the Houses of Parliament in 2022 on a picket line

On Tuesday, James Dunston, the prosecuting lawyer in the Bale-Nailati trial, told the court there was 'no one available across the entire country to conduct this prosecution'.

Addressing the court, he said: 'There do not seem to be enough barristers to carry out the work.'

He formally applied for the case to be taken out of the court's list to be re-listed at a later date.

Judge Recorder Christopher Millington accepted the application and the trial has now been listed to start on December 2.

Addressing the defendant, Judge Millington said: 'We have not, I am afraid, been able to start the trial you have been waiting for, for the reasons you have heard explained in court.

'For those reasons I am going to adjourn the trial, which will now take place at Shrewsbury Crown Court on December 2,' the Shropshire Star reported.

It comes as the rape case backlog has soared by 356 per cent in four years [2] to a record 2,591 awaiting trial in England and Wales. There were 568 victims waiting in March 2019.

Analysis shows that some victims are facing delays of more than two and a half years just to go through the court process after the suspect is charged.

A lack of specialist prosecutors, judges and crumbling courts are exacerbating the delays. Rape attacks reported to police in 2020 are now being listed for trial in 2025.

The Rape Crisis charity said some women were waiting more than eight years for justice, with the process leaving some suicidal.

One specialist sexual offences lawyer said: 'I despair.

You have got vulnerable victims self-harming and considering pulling out of the prosecution who have been let down time and time again because no prosecutor or defence lawyer or judge could be found. It has never been so bad.'

Ministry of Justice data on adult rape cases that did not result in a conviction shows 50 per cent of cases in Nottinghamshire, Cleveland, Cumbria and Dyfed-Powys collapsed after the victim withdrew their support between April and June 2023.

Criminal defence barristers outside the Royal Courts of Justice in July 2022 supporting the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) action over Government set fees for legal aid advocacy work

Barristers protested outside Manchester Crown Court in June 2022 as they demanded 25 per cent increase in legal aid and fees to stop young lawyers fleeing the profession

Overall, one in six adult rape cases listed in that period as having failed to secure a conviction in England and Wales were abandoned because the victim no longer supported the prosecution.

From April to June 2023, the average time for a rape case to be investigated in Cleveland was 479 days, three times longer than the previous three months.

Tana Adkin KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said: 'If justice is not served in good time, it is not served at all.

'Dedicated criminal barristers prosecuting and defending rape and serious sexual offences would like the courts to give priority to these types of case.'

She added: 'Delays to cases being heard, especially rape and serious sexual offence cases, mean that victims, witnesses and defendants are held in limbo unable to move on with their lives.'

In December, the Justice Gap legal magazine reported that the government's rape response overhaul has faced criticism from within the legal profession for insufficient investment in prosecutors.

It said: 'The Ministry of Justice has released statistics following the 2021 Rape Review Action Plan, suggesting 'significant progress is being made'.

'Justice Minister Dominic Raab said that 'rape convictions are up two thirds since last year and the number of CPS charges is also up by nearly two thirds from 2019'.

'However, there remain significant problems to be overcome. At the start of the year, rape cases took on average over two years to come to trial.

'The Ministry of Justice has admitted that, since the review, 'timeliness has worsened'.

'This is in part due to a lack of investment in skilled personnel.

While CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) charge rates have increased by 65 per cent, and Crown Court cases increased by 91 per cent, the CPS has only increased the specialist workforce by 17 per cent.

'Meanwhile, the actual barristers needed in court are lacking, in what Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the CBA, described as a 'deepening crisis of lack of prosecutors' caused by inadequate remuneration for prosecution cases, leading to a lack of available counsel.

'Prosecution fees for barristers have been a subject of dispute for over a decade. In 2012, the then-chair of the CBA, Max Hill KC, was arguing for increased fees for prosecuting barristers. Now, as Director of Public Prosecutions, he fights for the same cause.'

Critics of the system say there is now 'more money in defending than prosecuting'.

In April 2022, the Criminal Bar Association in England and Wales started industrial action protesting against 'stagnant' fees, with 94 per cent of criminal barristers in favour.

In June of that year, barristers began an open-ended strike every other week based on a CBA ballot in late May.

In October 2022, during the premiership of Liz Truss, barristers voted to end the strike following a deal with then-Secretary of State for Justice, Brandon Lewis.

In England and Wales, criminal barristers are self-employed professionals who represent the state and defendants in criminal trials.

Barristers are not paid for preparation work, and claim that 23 per cent work more than 60 hours a week and the average salary for the first three years is GBP12,200.

For the last 25 years, legal aid rates have been frozen or cut and the CBA says that 'real wages' of barristers fell 28 per cent over two decades.

References

^ Emily Jane Davies (www.dailymail.co.uk)
^ soared by 356 per cent in four years (www.dailymail.co.uk)