Research

Experiencing Asylum Appeals

Overwhelming, disorientating and confusing: 34 ways to improve access to justice at the first-tier tribunal

17 Dec 2020

digital courts
Research

Proving algorithmic discrimination in government decision-making

Jack Maxwell and Dr Joe Tomlinson

PLP researchers Dr Joe Tomlinson and Jack Maxwell in the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal on why Governments must not ignore the risk of algorithmic discrimination

28 Oct 2020

Research

Plus ça change? Brexit and the flaws of the delegated legislation system

Alexandra Sinclair and Dr Joe Tomlinson

The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union led to a tsunami of delegated legislation, provoking a re-examination of long-held anxieties about the role of delegated legislation in the contemporary constitution. In this report, we provide an account of Brexit delegated legislation from the 2016 referendum until Exit Day, arguing that, while the system as a

13 Oct 2020

Research

Digital Immigration Status: A Monitoring Framework

Dr Joe Tomlinson and Alice Welsh

This report scrutinises the Home Office’s case for the transition to digital-only immigration status, drawing on the prominent recent example of the EU Settlement Scheme. We warn that digital-only status is risky and call on the Home Office not to rule out bringing in a paper-based back-up. Based on our analysis of the tradeoffs involved,

1 Oct 2020

Research

Improving Exceptional Case Funding

Emma Marshall

This briefing provides an update to Public Law Project’s earlier report, Improving Exceptional Case Funding: Providers’ Perspectives, which was published in January 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

1 Oct 2020

digital courts
Research

Online Immigration Appeals: A Case Study of the First-tier Tribunal

Jo Hynes, Dr Joe Tomlinson, Emma Marshall, Jack Maxwell, Maria Wardale and Cecilia Correale

This report examines the transition to using the online procedure to manage appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).

26 Aug 2020

Research

Judicial Review during COVID-19

Joe Tomlinson, Jo Hynes, Emma Marshall and Jack Maxwell

The arrival of the coronavirus in the UK caused a dramatic shift from conventional justice processes to remote hearings in a matter of days. In this report, our Research Team documents the first set of empirical findings concerning remote justice in the Administrative Court during the COVID-19 pandemic.

20 Apr 2020

Research

Supporting systems changers through the use of collaborative legal approaches

Dr Jacqui Kinghan and Professor Lisa Vanhala

This report identifies key lessons from the first two years of a strategic partnership between the Public Law Project (PLP) and the Lankelly Chase Foundation. Established in 2017, the aim of the partnership is to bring PLP’s legal expertise to bear in support of the systems-change strategies of a group of Lankelly Chase’s partner organisations.

14 Feb 2020

Research

Quick and uneasy justice: An administrative justice analysis of the EU Settlement Scheme

Dr Joe Tomlinson

PLP has now finished phase one of its settled status research project. The first phase of research aimed to model how the scheme is designed, and to provide a detailed analysis of its possible strengths and weaknesses. The findings of this first phase of research are written up in a report by PLP’s Research Director

16 Jul 2019

Research

Using the law to address unfair systems

Dr Jacqui Kinghan and Professor Lisa Vanhala

The Public Law Project’s (PLP) collaborative approach to public law has featured in a case study of the landmark legal challenge to the personal independence payments scheme, a case that changed the assessment criteria for thousands of people on disability benefits. The research carried out by Dr Lisa Vanhala and Dr Jacqui Kinghan of UCL

23 Apr 2019

Research

The gap between the legal aid means regulations and financial reality

Isaac Richardson

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

Research

LASPO briefing: Public Law Project Litigation

Matthew Ahluwalia

The Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), and the subsequent secondary legislation, significantly changed the way that civil legal aid operates. Changes were made not only to the scope of legal aid, but also to the procedures and processes that clients and lawyers had to follow in order to access funding

14 Jun 2018