Barristers in the North will meet today to discuss a pay settlement aimed at lifting a threat of strike action over legal aid back pay.
Representatives of the Northern Ireland Court Service and the Bar Council met in Belfast yesterday for talks on the £40 million pay dispute.
It is understood the offer by the Courts Service followed the talks aimed at averting the threatened boycott of cases by lawyers.
Last night a spokeswoman for the Bar Council said: “Meetings have taken place throughout the day and progress has been made. A meeting of the general Bar Council will take place tomorrow.”
It was feared barristers could begin sending back solicitor briefing papers if the legal aid backpay issue was not resolved. They claim the Court Service has still to pay them for cases they worked on almost nine years ago.
The dispute involves payments related to Family Care Centre cases from 2000 and the top category of criminal cases - so called Very High Cost (VHC) hearings - from 2005.
The VHC cases involve criminal trials that last for more than 21 days.
PA