This paper will first summarise the means regulations. It will then explore the discord between the regulations and financial reality, and the way in which this can exclude applicants who lack the resources needed to maintain an acceptable standard of living, let alone pay for legal services. Finally, it will identify two household types who…
12 Jul 2018
The overview provided in this briefing paper identifies five key issues relating to the availability of early legal advice, which arise from the reforms to civil legal aid made by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). This briefing paper reviews existing research conducted by other organisations that documents how the…
1 May 2018
In England and Wales, questions of money and finance have become more important in the discussion around judicial review in recent years. On the claimant side, there are widespread access to justice concerns relating ot the costs of bringing a judicial review. On the government side, there has been a view taken – which has…
26 Apr 2018
The issue of how and when legal intervention is best used in system change is one that has received little attention in the UK previously. Yet assumptions are made by those who use the law as to how effective legal tools are in successfully challenging unfair systems. Here we are publishing a literature review on the use and…
10 Apr 2018
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) significantly limited the availability of legal aid in civil and family law. Whilst public law family cases remained in the scope of legal aid under LASPO, most private family law matters became ineligible for legal aid, with the exception of funding for some victims…
This document sets out an initial research strategy for PLP, to operate from 2018 to 2020. The context of this strategy is PLP’s overarching strategic plan, and the organisation’s agreed priorities and goals for the period. In addition, a key aim this initial period is to confirm the PLP’s identity as a producer of high-quality,…
5 Apr 2018
The research presented here focuses on the feasibility of developing access to legal aid through the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme, by setting up and running ECF projects in university law schools. This report contributes to PLP’s existing research undertaken in partnership with university law clinics,1 which seeks to develop knowledge and understanding about the…
Tribunals are a major part of the administrative justice system. The Government has begun to introduce digital procedures in tribunals but the full details of the changes remain to be seen. This report—commissioned by the UK Administrative Justice Institute—outlines ‘what we know and what we need to know’ about the digitalisation of tribunals. It takes…
University law clinics are a developing tool for both legal skills-based education and academic education. As well as providing students with experience of law in action and a practical base for academic enquiry, law clinics are, and should be supported as, an important means of providing practical legal work experience; especially where they can provide…
Sir Stephen Sedley and Cambridge University Press (CUP) have allowed us to publish the introduction to Lions under the Throne , Essays on the History of English Public Law. The first part of this chapter sketches the early growth of English public law. The second part tries to describe what it was like to be involved in the modern take-off of public law as it roused itself from its long sleep.…
2 Dec 2015
The process through which legal redress may be obtained against public authorities is often criticised as being politicised , of little value to claimants , and burdensome on public bodies. Based on the largest empirical study of judicial review outcomes to date , Varda Bondy , Lucinda Platt and Maurice Sunkin explain how the process can actually benefit claimants , and improve policy and practice.…
15 Oct 2015
This research paper considers the extent to which the Ministry of Justice review of the Mandatory Civil Legal Advice Telephone Gateway engages with the key legislative and policy intentions behind it , as well as the extent to which the Gateway , as implemented , meets those intentions.…
2 Mar 2015