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Michael Fordham - 11th June 2013
This is an edited transcript of the address given by Michael Fordham QC, on Tuesday 4 July 2013, at the Demonstration to Save Justice outside of the Ministry of Justice. A full recording of this address can be found here. “Will you please – make some noise! Over there in that doorway is a silver […]
Polly Glynn - 2nd June 2013
This is a government which does not like its decisions being challenged, examined or questioned. This is a government which likes being able to use its power in whichever way it likes. It is clearly annoyed by challenges to its policies and decisions. Its solution in the proposed legal aid reforms is to take away […]
Meghan Campbell - 31st May 2013
By Meghan Campbell and Arthur Chan Oxford Legal Assistance (OLA) is an undergraduate and postgraduate legal aid scheme, run out of the University of Oxford and is partnered with Turpin and Miller LLP, a local legal aid firm. OLA runs a weekly clinic session which provides free preliminary consultation sessions for individuals in need of […]
admin - 30th May 2013
Like many law academics I suppose I had grown tired of well-heeled QCs claiming that this or that change to legal services spelt doom for their profession when what they really meant (I invariably thought) was slightly less money to spend on a second home. Lawyers have cried wolf so often it is hard to […]
Conor Gearty - 30th May 2013
Like many law academics I suppose I had grown tired of well-heeled QCs claiming that this or that change to legal services spelt doom for their profession when what they really meant (I invariably thought) was slightly less money to spend on a second home. Lawyers have cried wolf so often it is hard to […]
Guest Contributor - 15th May 2013
By Justice Dhaya Pillay I am troubled by the inequality in our society despite our grand Constitution. My concern is that the impact of apartheid plagues black and poor people who seem reticent about challenging their circumstances. Public interest law practised strategically has and could continue to advance our constitutional project. My definition of public […]
Guest Contributor - 18th March 2013
By Natasha Simonsen – The recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Er & Ors v Turkey illustrates the tension between the principle of the subsidiarity and the trend in the Court’s case law towards relaxation of procedural constraints on access to justice. The case arose from the disappearance of a Kurdish man, […]
Natasha Holcroft-Emmess - 8th December 2012
Robin Knowles CBE QC and Natasha Holcroft-Emmess add to the voices on the OxHRH Blog warning of the threat to justice posed by impending budget cuts, particularly to self-represented litigants. On Friday 30th of November 2012, the UK Civil Justice Council (CJC) conducted a national forum to consider how to safeguard access to justice for the […]
Guest Contributor - 7th December 2012
by Geoff Budlender Arthur Chaskalson, former Chief Justice of South Africa and a champion of human rights, passed away at the weekend. Geoff Budlender delivered the eulogy at his funeral this week. This is an edited version of the text, which is available in full here. Arthur’s first career was as a practising advocate at […]
Guest Contributor - 29th November 2012
By Stephen Meili Following on from Jo Renshaw’s piece on this blog about the impact of the legal aid cuts on immigration, Stephen Meili presents an insight into lawyers’ perceptions of these cuts on asylum claims. As part of my current research project on the circumstances under which international human rights treaties help – or […]
Guest Contributor - 18th November 2012
By Persis Sidhva The Indian legal system has been ineffective in promoting a pro bono culture. The Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 provides for free legal services to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and children without any qualification regarding their financial status, persons with disabilities, victims of human trafficking, persons with an annual income less than […]
Guest Contributor - 16th November 2012
By Jo Renshaw Following the celebration of National Pro Bono Week in the UK last week, Jo Renshaw, Partner and Head of the Immigration Team at Turpin & Miller LLP, reflects on the impact of the impending cuts to legal aid in the UK and why pro bono work will not be enough to fill […]