Discussion and themes
Law for Life (formerly Plenet) is keen to stimulate a lively conversation about the key issues around the development of public legal education. We are publishing articles which we hope will provoke discussion and debate and which will help to build up our body of knowledge. Please add your own comments and contribution to any article using the comment box. Your comments will be added to the article for all to read.
Alternatively, if you would like to contribute an article, contact us through the Feedback form and we will get in touch with you.
Five fruit and veg a day : musings on public health education and PLE
Law for Life trustee, Amanda Finlay reflects the approach taken by health professions to promoting good health and asks whether a similar strategic approach should be applied to legal services. Health prevention is delivered at tertiary (acute), secondary (at risk) and primary (general population) level. Amanda considers each level in a legal context and writes persuasively about the value of targeted interventions. This is an opportunity to join an important debate about how to improve the legal health of our communities in the future. Find out more...
The Triple Dividend: Thriving lives. Costing less. Contributing more. Introducing the 'ready for everything' agenda
An influential paper by the Early Action Task Force about how to develop a community ‘ready for everything’. Their recommendations favouring early intervention and enabling services resonate with the role of public education and the creation of legally capable citizens. An excellent diagram illustrates the ‘ready of everything’ community at the top of a cliff with ‘prompt interventions’ at the cliff edge ready to pick up the first signs of difficulty. They suggest a new language be adopted where building ‘readiness’ replaces preventative action as a more optimistic and aspirational concept. Find out more...
Plenet's legal capability discussion
Since publishing a legal capability paper at the end of 2009, Plenet has received interesting and helpful feedback.
One of the concerns was that the notion of legal capability appears to shift responsibility for dealing with law-related problems to the individual. Other interesting issues included the notion of having to have confidence in the law. Martin is keen for further comments and would like readers views on his 'two-step approach' particularly on the capabilities needed at the foundation level. Find out more...
See Plenet's paper on legal capability under key reading.
Towards a baseline for legal capability
Recent research has highlighted the difficulties people face when dealing with law-related problems due to a lack of knowledge of civil law and the skills needed to deal with law-related issues. This knowledge and skills deficit raises an immediate question: what combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes do people need? And what can we do to develop the capabilities that people need in order to deal with the everyday problems? Find out more...
What do we mean by legal capability?
This article looks at what capabilities people need to deal with law related issues? What knowledge do they need? What skills do they require? What attitudes should they have? There is a growing consensus that legal capability is much more than knowledge - it is about skills, confidence and determination. Find out more and join in the debate...
Why is Public Legal Education still a Cinderella issue?
Written in 2008, Martin Jones, director of Plenet asks why public legal education is so marginalised - why is it still a Cinderella issue ? Martin compares legal services to other public services such as health where there has been strong support for preventative work. A lack of centralised planning has resulted in legal services being reactive. The challenge now is to develop a fully rounded legal service with a proper balance between reactive work and the more strategic approach of prevention and the development of legal capability. Read more about this interesting debate...
Discussion - Why so bland?
In 2007 information about the law and legal rights was often dull and uninviting. This article calls for a rethink - information providers need to look honestly at the assumptions they make, the techniques they use and see if a more inventive and attractive approach can be adopted. Find out more...
Immigration and Nationality Information Deficit
In 2009 Advicenow revealed that there was far less information available to the public on immigration and nationality than there was in 2006. Even when information was provided it used unexplained jargon; had no overview or an explanation of related issues; emotional issues were not addressed and information was not tailored to its audience. Find out more...
