We are grateful to YLAL member, Rachel Kelly, for writing this original content piece.
COVID-19 has had a severe impact on life as we know it. This article will explore the effect on students. From bar exams crisis to the cancellation of placements and postponement of legal careers, COVID-19 has had drastic consequences on the access to the legal profession.
The Justice Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the future of legal aid and launched a consultation on 7 September 2020 with the following terms of reference:
How LASPO has affected access to justice views on the post-implementation review and the criminal legal aid review;
The role of the Legal Aid Agency;
Recruitment and retention problems among legal aid professionals;
On 31 July 2020, the Government established the Independent Review of Administrative Law (“the Review”), consisting of a panel of six practitioners and academics, and published its Terms of Reference (“the TOR”).
We are grateful to Amany for this piece, who is a YLAL member and currently undertaking work experience to save up for her upcoming Bar course.
On 17 September 2020, the Ministry of Justice published its most recent statistics on the diversity of the judiciary. The findings are unambiguous and dispiriting; our judiciary is predominantly white, male and middle class.
This piece was written by YLAL members Chloe Darcy and Ella Cornwall.
On Wednesday 9 September 2020, One Pump Court Chambers hosted a #YLALVirtual meeting reflecting on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic six months on from the passage of the Coronavirus Act. The meeting explored how the pandemic has affected different areas of social welfare law and the criminal justice system since lockdown began in March. Ciara Bartlam, YLAL committee member and barrister at Garden Court North Chambers, chaired the meeting.
This piece was written by YLAL member Maariyaah Zamir, a recent LLB graduate.
On 21 August 2020, the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC, wrote to YLAL in response to our submission to the consultation on the accelerated areas of the Criminal Legal Aid Review.
YLAL's full submission to the consultation can be found here.
On 22nd July 2020, YLAL Leeds hosted the virtual event 'Legal Aid and Domestic Violence'. Aaqib Javed, YLAL committee member and future pupil barrister at Spire Barristers, began by introducing the event and the four panellists. He outlined the event’s main focus, domestic violence, and the three main topics to be discussed: the Ministry of Justice Inquiry, the Domestic Abuse Bill, and the important issue of legal aid and access to justice..
