Public legal education :
Improving lives, empowering communities

Welcome to the April issue of Public Legal Education Network newsletter - Issue no.9.

Plenet's Legal Empowerment Conference 2010
'How does PLE advance a culture of civil and social justice ?'

Plenet held their second successful and very enjoyable conference in London on 10th February.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Willy Bach delivered a welcoming keynote address (83 KB) and the brilliant Theatre ADAD performed two short plays. We welcomed Sarah McCoubrey from OJEN in Canada and many workshop leaders, panel members and delegates.

Read our Conference report or visit our events page: Plenet Conference 2010

Lord Bach told delegates:

'PLE has come of age, as a concept. There has been a breakthrough in as much as the ideas behind it are accepted as valid and true by many across the whole justice system. The Ministry of Justice looks forward to working with you to demonstrate to others the value of Public Legal Education.'

Legal capability update

Since publishing our discussion paper on legal capability (220 KB) at the end of last year, we have had some interesting and helpful comments. Find out more in this update. Plenet welcomes further feedback, particularly on the capabilities needed at the foundation level. What capabilities would we like the average school leaver to have? What should they be able to do?

Shelter's Digital Inclusion project

Many government services are now being delivered on line, but literacy, accessibility and capability problems mean that many people are denied access - creating a digital divide. Shelter Scotland's ground breaking digital inclusion project addresses this issue and illustrates how PLE can deliver the skills needed to enable people to make the most of legal knowledge and tools available on websites.

The project resulted in the creation of a new easy access portal to Shelter's 'Get Advice’ website, called 'Housing advice for everyone'.

Engaging with the community during the development of the site was key to its success. The report describes the process of selecting partners, recruiting volunteer web buddies and piloting the new website.

Read more about the digital inclusion project and Shelter Scotland's report:
'Social inclusion in the digital age' (1.5 MB)

April 2010

Coming SOON ! - Legal Services Research Centre's new research, 'Knowledge, capability and experience of rights problems'.

60 second interview

Lord Bach, Chair of the Ministry of Justice’s PLE Strategy Group
Asked why PLE works, Lord Bach said:

'If people are given the right tools – the knowledge and skills – to take control of their own situation then this leads to a range of other positive outcomes. Not only do legal problems get resolved before they spiral out of control but empowered citizens promote a healthy democracy, one inhabited by people who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to participate in society and its institutions'.

Read the interview in full: 60 second interview with Lord Bach

Do you know of a European equality project doing public legal education work ?

Plenet are keen to learn more about European projects - what they do and how they do it well.

More about Equality projects and PLE in Europe

Quick links

New projects have been added to Plenet's website. Click to read about new community development and international projects

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