Public legal education :
Improving lives, empowering communities

PLE Principles and guidance

A new guide written specifically for people who provide or who are thinking about providing public legal education has been published. It suggests that there are five basic principles to follow to deliver good PLE. The principles, known as 'Apple' cover Audience, Purpose, Provider, Learning and Evaluation. The guide provides practical examples and suggestions under each heading to help people put the principles into practice.

Read the guide:
PLE Principles and guidance (574 KB)

The guide was commissioned by Plenet and was written in collaboration with a range of organisations: Advice Plus, AdviceUK, Bar Pro Bono Unit, Citizens Advice, Citizenship Foundation, College of Law, Law Centres Federation, LawWorks, Legal Services Commission and NIACE who all contributed their knowledge, skills and expertise.

More about PLE principles and guidance

Latest research on knowledge, capability and the experience of rights problems

As highlighted recently new research commissioned by Plenet and carried out by the Legal Services Research Centre was published last month.The findings suggest that up to two thirds of the population are unaware of the system of legal rights and nearly 70% have no knowledge of basic legal processes.

The report identifies specific target groups who lack capability and the types of problems where public legal education would most beneficial.

Read more about the report:
Knowledge, capability and the experience of rights problems

Copy of the Research (810 KB)
and press release 'LSRC report highlights need for PLE' (101 KB)

Plan and deliver !

Earlier this year and as part of the EU funded Progress initiative, Advicenow worked with local advice agencies about how to incorporate PLE into their individual equality strategies. The work provided a valuable insight into what was needed to increase and improve PLE at a local level. These finding have been published in a report: Equalities PLE (74 KB).

More about the: Progress Equalities project. You will also find here a useful guide on how to plan an equalities PLE project (80 KB)

Ask an Adviser !

Leading law firm, Clifford Chance is writing a weekly column, 'Ask the Adviser' in the Newham Recorder in London. Decisions on subjects to cover are guided by the range of legal issues raised by residents visiting their local LawWorks clinics. During the past year the column has focused on education issues, the elderly and consumer matters.

The initiative reflects the firm's strong commitment to improving access to justice as part of their corporate social responsibility activities.

More about the project: Advice Bank

Vacancy Alert !

Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS) is looking for a part-time Training & Accreditation Coordinator to lead on the development and delivery of IARS' training and accreditation services, and the fostering of relationships with communities and community based organisations. The closing date is 1st July 2010. Further details: IARS Vacancy for Training & Accreditation Co-ordinator.

60 second interview

Myles Kunzli
'The ultimate test of PLE is the positive difference it makes to people’s lives. Gaining legal knowledge is only a part of the PLE process - the really important part is incorporating the interpersonal skills needed to solve or prevent problems.'

Read the interview with Myles Kunzli

PLE in Europe update

Several equality projects in Europe have completed a questionnaire describing their approach to awareness raising, outreach, education and community engagement as part of their discrimination and human rights work. Projects in Iceland, Hungary, Croatia, Finland and Bulgaria are showcased on Advicenow's website.

Human Rights in the Community

The British Institute of Human Rights has launched a new project ‘Human Rights in the Community’ to empower individuals and communities with human rights language and tools. It will help develop human rights advocacy projects and create an interactive web resource - a ‘one-stop-shop’ of human rights information and forum for sharing learning.

More about the BIHR project.

Join Plenet's ongoing debate about legal capability. Visit Plenet discussion on legal capability to find out more.

Join PLE Network to receive our latest news