The report uses illustrative case studies and data analysis to summarise and explain:
PLP’s Legal Aid Support Project (LASP); Casework in welfare benefits , community care , and the Special Immigration and Appeal’s Commission (SIAC); PLP’s Justice First Fellows; Research and policy work; Training , conferences , resources , guides and publications … and the PLP community!
The report finishes with a summary of our recent strategic review and its results;
a re-articulation of our vision , mission and priorities more suited to current challenges.mission and priorities.
It is possible to apply for ECF without help from a solicitor or adviser. Doing so is not easy but it is not impossible. This guide is intended to help you work out if this is something you want to do. If you decide that it is , it will hopefully help you apply successfully , but it is only an introduction and cannot answer every problem you might face.
PLP’s response addresses a number of issues , namely the lack of shared understanding of terminology , why judicial review is a ‘special case’ and PLP’s conclusions regarding ‘QOCS’.
‘We are writing further to your statement in Parliament earlier this month that you would shortly be announcing the timeline for the review of LASPO which the Government is committed to undertaking by April 2018. PLP welcomes the Government’s intention to conduct a review into the LASPO legal aid reforms which have had far reaching implications for access to justice in England and Wales.
We are taking the opportunity to write to you now with some suggestions as to the areas which the Government’s review should cover. This is a non-exhaustive list of areas of particular concern and which you will no doubt wish to consider in order to fully understand the implications for access to justice and the rule of law of the LASPO reforms , given your oath and statutory duties as Lord Chancellor.â€
The UK Government’s use of remotely-piloted armed Reaper drones to conduct lethal strikes abroad , without placing the operator at risk of injury or capture , has given rise to considerable concerns of legality , transparency and accountability. Armed drones are not prohibited weapons under international law. However , drone strikes raise serious legal issues , which differ depending on the circumstances in which strikes are carried out.
This paper accompanied a seminar looking at the application of judicial review principles to the regulators across a range of commercial sectors , focused on recent cases and also particular trends.
There are essentially two ways in which a person may challenge the sufficiency of inquest proceedings or a decision by a coroner not to hold an inquest at all. The first and most obvious is by way of judicial review proceedings. The second is by way of a s13 application under the Coroners Act 1988.This paper will briefly consider the law and procedure pertaining to applications to the Attorney-General for a fiat and applications to the High Court pursuant to s13 of the Coroners Act 1988.
On 11 October 2016 the IPB passed the report stage , which leaves only the third reading before royal assent. It is likely to become law in January 2017. The Bill is an unprecedented legislative assault on privacy. Although it is welcome in that it seeks to regulate what the authorities have been doing anyway without any formal legal basis , it contains incredibly far-reaching powers with insufficient oversight.
This paper considers some of the obligations and powers under which the State comes to investigate deaths , incidents of serious harm and abuse , and other forms of wrongdoing. These obligations and powers can , in limited circumstances , be used in judicial review proceedings to challenge decisions of Government and other public authorities on whether to conduct an investigation , and , if so , what form of investigation is required
The last few years have seen a raft of discrimination claims come before the higher courts in public law cases. A significant proportion of these claims have succeeded , in areas as diverse as the allocation of social housing and the payment of disability benefits.
Legal aid is vital to ensure that those who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer are able to access to justice. Prior to April 2013 , legal aid was generally available to separated migrant children for all immigration applications that they may need to make , e.g. for cases which raised either asylum or Article 8 ECHR/EEA grounds , or a mixture.
Now , with a few exceptions , it is available only for protection claims
This is a note prepared by PLP’s Rakesh Singh for the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA) on changes to the Home Office policy on when JR will not suspend removal. It has been included in the ILPA mailing for November 2016 and was part of a talk prepared for the working group on removals , detention and offences on 10/11/16.