York Crown Court will continue to dispense justice as barristers start an all-out national strike which threatens to bring the country's criminal justice system to a halt.

Judges in the courthouse at the Eye of York will be sitting today and throughout the action to hear cases including trials, whenever possible, and support will be available for witnesses.

If trials are postponed by the barristers' strike in York they face at least a six-month delay before they can be heard.

Last week the retrial of a York sex case where the jury was hung was relisted for April.

Nationally more than 1,400 trials have been delayed by the first 19 days of the barristers' industrial action up to August 5 and 6,235 cases were disrupted.

Among trials due to be heard in the next few weeks at York Crown Court are a child abuse case, causing death by dangerous driving, a house burglary case, and several drug dealing and assault cases.

A man from York is due to stand trial for murder in Bristol in a few weeks’ time, and in November a man is due to stand trial in York for drug dealing after waiting two years for his trial already.

The Criminal Bar Association voted by 80 per cent two weeks ago to escalate its long-running dispute with the Government over legal aid fees by going on all-out strike indefinitely across the country from today. They claim legal aid fees are too low. The vast majority of defendants' costs are met by legal aid fees which are normally not paid to barristers until a case concludes, which can be many months after it starts.

The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Vera Baird QC, said: "All-out industrial action by the Criminal Bar is just the latest symptom of a criminal justice system that is severely and recklessly underfunded. And it is victims who are ultimately paying the price and will continue to suffer the longer this goes on."

She added: "Alongside an enormous Crown Court case backlog, we also have a dangerous shortage of criminal barristers in this country. One in eight left the profession just in the past year alone. This is simply unsustainable, and it leaves our criminal justice system teetering on the edge."

The Government claims its 15 per cent increase in legal aid fees for new cases is generous.

Barristers are not accepting instructions in new cases, not representing defendants in cases where the original barrister instructed is unable to attend and are not attending court.

Until today they have been taking action on alternate weeks, which has resulted in some York cases that would have been heard on strike weeks being postponed to non-strike weeks.

But that will not be possible from today.