Bridging the Justice Gap Book Launch and YLAL is 5!
JON SNOW TO HOST ‘CLOSING JUSTICE GAP’ BOOK LAUNCH…
You’re invited to the launch of a new collection of essays about improving access to justice… Closing the Justice Gap: some new thinking about an old problem… produced by the legal research company Jures this month, published by Solicitors Journal in association with Young Legal Aid Lawyers. We are also celebrating YLAL’s fifth birthday.
Venue: March 31st at Norton Rose 3 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AQ. Doors open at 7.30 and discussion chaired by Jon Snow with a panel including the legal aid minister Lord Bach
‘We hope this collection of essays is a radically different contribution to a debate that often appears stuck in a rut between government intransigence, as lawyers and those working in the advice sector might see it, and professional self interest as non-lawyers and ministers might see it,’ comments editor Jon Robins. ‘You can find out whether we’ve succeeded this month.’
Contributors included Michael Mansfield QC, Henry Bellingham MP, Geoffrey Bindman, Roger Smith of JUSTICE, Steve Hynes of the Legal Action Group, and David Harker of Citizen’s Advice. They were charged with the task of coming up with fresh ideas to improve access to justice for the poor and vulnerable in our society. They all had to sign up to basic principles (for example, access to justice is the right of each citizen… right of access to justice applies equally to civil and criminal law… etc). Finally, they were also told ‘no point scoring, no complaining about fees’ and that all recommendations must be purely in the client interest
“As we face wide ranging cuts to public services across the board, access to justice for all citizens is increasingly essential to ensure a fair society. Five years on from setting up Young Legal Aid Lawyers, lawyers are struggling more than ever to use the law to achieve social justice. While YLAL firmly believes that access to justice is an inalienable right, we hope this book will encourage law makers to prioritise the guarantee of meaningful justice for all.”
Laura Janes, Chair, YLAL
‘We need all the constructive ideas we can get. The book makes a valuable contribution.’
Michael Zander QC (from the foreword to Closing the Justice Gap)
Click here to book. Each person wishing to attend must complete this form.
Places are free but limited, therefore if you have received confirmation of your place and are unable to attend, please cancel here.
Jures’s Closing the Justice Gap is published by Solicitors Journal and will be available as a standalone publication (in limited numbers) and as a supplement to the weekly magazine.
Edited by Jon Robins with foreword by Michael Zander QC, Emeritus professor of Law, LSE
- Michael Mansfield QC, founder of Tooks Chambers
- Henry Bellingham MP, shadow minister for the Ministry of Justice
- Roger Smith OBE, director of JUSTICE
- Sir Geoffrey Bindman
- Crispin Passmore, head of strategy at the Legal Services Board (writing in a personal capacity)
- Laura Janes, Young Legal Aid Lawyers
- David Harker, chief executive at Citizens Advice
- Neil Kinsella, chief executive at Russell Jones & Walker
- Tony Edwards, senior partner at TV Edwards
- Jon Trigg, strategy director at A4e
- Nick Green QC, chairman of the Bar Council 2010 and Paul Mendelle QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association 2010
- Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group and co-author of The Justice Gap: whatever happened to legal aid
- Jon Robins, legal journalist, co-author of The Justice Gap and director of the legal research company Jures.