As a result of a budget crisis, all 120 public defenders in Washington DC will be forced to take an unpaid day off once per week, normally a Wednesday, NBC Washington reports.

In a letter to senior judges, the director of the city’s public defender service said its lawyers “will not be able to appear in any court [on these days] for any matter, including initial appearances, preliminary hearings, and trials”.

The unprecedented move is expected to contribute to further delays in the DC courts, where serious cases already take nearly two years.

A spokesperson for the DC courts said: “The court is… doing all that we can to administer fair and timely justice in light of this recent news, but we will clearly be hampered in cases where there is not an attorney present to represent their clients.”