Published: 14th October 2026 “Hello, I am Jamie Peters, Interim CEO of Public Law Project and I am delighted to welcome you to PLP’s 23rd Annual Conference. I would like to extend my particular thanks to our longstanding partners Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and Blackstone Chambers for their support in putting on this event. Our annual conference is always a highlight of our year as I know it also is for a great number of you too. We’re delighted to have you join us today. This year’s conference theme is- Law, Democracy & Civic Space – always vital issues for us, our sector and the country . All even more important given the political context that we are living through in the UK and across the world. Since joining Public Law Project last year I have been impressed to learn just how highly regarded our events are and how well we present content on vital issues while also attracting such passionate and knowledgeable speakers and attendees. In large part that is down to our small but wonderful events team of Ade Lukes and Nicole Chen, who I am sure many of you know. I’d like to take a quick moment to thank them both but in particular thank Nicole whose attention to detail and all-round excellence makes these events run so smoothly – this will be Nicole’s last event with PLP as she moves onto the next chapter of her career so a big thank you and short round of applause for Nicole please. Alongside our top class annual conferences and events through the year – PLP does a huge amount to defend and further public law across the country, through our strategic litigation and our research work , and increasingly also our community engagement – I’d like to draw attention to some highlights for what has been a year full of impact for us. We have just published our report Misaligned Incentives in the Immigration Legal Aid Scheme which finds ‘There is not enough immigration legal aid to meet eligible demand’ and explores the impact commercial incentives are having on legal aid distribution. An example of PLP continuing to prioritise an effective legal aid system – and call for it to be accessible and focused on fair outcomes and user need needs, rather than administrative targets. Coming out next week on an absolutely vital issue that PLP is continues to carry out leading work on, is a new report – Missing Pieces: Transparency and Accountability in Public Body Automated (and Automated Assisted) Decision Making This looks at the challenges in ensuring effective accountability and redress through public law remedies in instances where AI or other forms of automated tech are used in public body decision making. The findings are ‘The Government has been clear about the importance of transparency and accountability in public bodies’ use of AI and other forms of automated decision-making. However — despite these commitments — people are still being left in the dark about when and how these tools are being used to make crucial decisions about their lives‘. Coming up next month is: Cultural, Procedural and Linguistic Barriers to Access to Justice in the Immigration and Asylum System The second of two reports in a series, this draws on analysis of 271 Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) decisions issued over the past two years. It examines cultural, linguistic and procedural barriers to access to justice in immigration and asylum tribunals in the UK, reminding us that access to justice depends on more than having a right to a hearing. Since the last conference, we have defended the rule of law in a range of ways: Through our casework we have safeguarded several families protected under the EU Settlement Scheme, intervened in Liberty’s successful challenge to protest rights and supported our clients to successfully challenge against Cardiff Council on suitable housing. Through our public affairs efforts we have shaped policy, supporting improvements to bills such as the Data Use and Access Bill, the Public Authorities Bill, and the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, plus amendments to the Nationality and Borders Act. Through research we have spotlighted injustice in the judicial review cost regime and the harmful impact of Universal Credit sanctions. Coming from a climate change background I was particularly pleased to see PLP host its first Public Law and the Planet conference – announcing ourselves in the environmental space for the first time and bringing our wealth of experience and passion to this new area of the organisation. These are all examples of work that has been carried out with one aim: real impact, real change that improves people’s lives That is the backbone of PLP’s work. Not knowledge for knowledge’s sake but putting all of our energy into materially improving things, whether its policy, law or the everyday decisions that shape people’s lives Our work goes to the heart of what a functioning democracy needs. And why the rule of law has to matter in practice, not just in principle. Today’s event is so important for many reasons. The challenges facing the work we do and the challenges facing the country are sadly significant: We are seeing the rising threat of authoritarianism not just overseas but here in the UK also. And the threats that brings to the Rule of Law itself. We are seeing the huge rise of technology, in particular AI, play our day by day in front of us with as yet unknown consequences in some case. And potentially transforming how decisions are made about our lives, how our public bodies act, not to mention the environmental impacts of AI. With that comes a duty to guard against power that is unaccountable and unseen. And we are seeing the politics on the issues that we care about and work on – become increasingly hostile in various ways – in our political arenas, in our policy, in the media and even on the streets of our country. Something we must, and always will, stand against as people who care about the rule of law but also as people who care about our societies being safe, welcoming and fair to all. We see immigration, in particular, remaining a focal point for those who wish to push division upon us and promote more extreme politics which very much has public law in its sights. So we can celebrate the progress we have made in the last year but also be very much alive to the challenges that lay ahead of us. Looking to the year ahead for PLP we will move on knowing that these challenges only make our work more vital. Public Law Project exists to ensure that public power is exercised fairly, lawfully and accountably and that will steer us on the path ahead. We look forward to further strengthening our work on the use of AI and automated decision making within public law. We have always been proud that our work places those communities most impacted at the heart of things and are delighted to be launching a new Community Knowledge Exchange that will link experts, those across the sector, with decision makers and communities most in need of a strong and fair public law. It will, of course, remain vital to get funding to continue to do this essential work. One of highlights of the year at PLP has been Friends of Public Law which we launched this summer. It brings together a group of supporters to back PLP’s mission of holding the state to account and it gives us space to hear how best to get that right as an organisation. By joining Friends of Public Law, you make a meaningful investment in PLP’s future. Please do speak to me or any of the staff here today to find out how to come closer to our work and support us as you do so. While I have only been at Public Law Project for just over a year, I have been lucky enough to have attended and spoken at 2 of our annual conferences and I am confident that today will be a brilliant event with the most remarkable people passionate about public law, so please make the most of it. This is my second annual conference but also last because I am passing the baton back to PLP’s permanent CEO – Shameem Ahmad – who is here today – PLP will be in excellent hands going forward as it keeps rising to the challenges as we know it must.”