Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

I always thought that one of the important aspects of the National Curriculum was the introduction of citizenship education. When done well, it teaches young people to understand, challenge and engage with the main pillars of our democracy: politics, the economy and the law. It has also led to some quite brilliant and inspiring project work. Citizenship education is central to how young people can be given the confidence to engage and navigate the law and legal processes.

However, the Department for Education is now conducting a review of the National Curriculum and has issued a consultation document for public comment. Of most interest are the proposals for citizenship education in key stages 3 and 4.

The proposed new curriculum removes the explicit reference to ‘political, legal and human rights, and the responsibilities of citizens’, present in the current curriculum leaving only a vaguer reference to the ‘precious liberties of the citizens of the United Kingdom’.

Other references to ‘influencing decisions affecting communities…’ and ‘strategies for dealing with disagreement and conflict’ have also been removed; although there is now an explicit reference to the ‘importance of personal budgeting, money management and a range of financial products and services’.

The consultation closes on April 16 2013, so if you are moved to comment you’ll need to act fast. You can get further information from the Citizenship Foundation, who have provided a handy critique and guide to proposed changes.
See http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/news.php?n1056

In addition, campaign group Democratic Life has an online response form that you can use. It is pre-filled with thoughts about the citizenship curriculum, which you can leave in or edit as you see fit. It is sent automatically to the Department for Education’s consultation team, and a copy is sent to you.

See http://www.democraticlife.org.uk/

One development, not adequately publicised, is the creation of an increasing number of short YouTube videos on different aspects of the justice system. Produced by the Ministry of Justice they provide introductions to many aspects of the justice systems, including information about a number of tribunals where those appearing will struggle to get legal representation.

To browse the videos, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/MinistryofJusticeUK/videos?view=1&flow=grid

In the book I argue that it is hard to encourage rational debate on sentencing policy. Discussion tends to be hi-jacked by shrill comments from politicians and the press.

To encourage better public understanding of sentencing and its actual application in particular cases, the Ministry of Justice created an interactive website – You be the Judge – which invites you to be the judge. The scope of the website has been expanded to include new offences.

From 30 November 2012, cases of murder, manslaughter, drug dealing and teen crime were added to the website You be the Judge.

To try you hand at sentencing go to http://ybtj.justice.gov.uk/

First, welcome to all the new students starting on their law courses. Wherever you are studying, have a great time.

The legal system is currently undergoing great change. The practice of law is also undergoing great change. In Introduction to the English Legal System I offer an account of those changes which will affect everyone graduating in 3/4 years time. But the pace of change is so rapid that it is hard to keep track of everything.

Use this blog to pick up key developments; but also visit the linked blogs for additional information and ideas. Let me know if there are things you would like to read more about and I’ll try to address them.

At the same time, the new legal year starts. If you are standing outside Westminster Abbey on the morning of 1 October you will see all the judges in their robes arriving for the service that marks the beginning of the legal year – followed by what is known as the Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast (even though it is in the middle of the day!)

Don’t be misled by all the formality and pomp, which may suggest that the legal system is ticking on just as it has done for the last 100 years. In fact, the judicial system is also undergoing great change – changes also considered in my book and in this blog.

For students and those entering the law, all this change offers great opportunity for innovation and development. What I would encourage you to do is think how things might be done differently and more efficiently; what are the varietes of opportunity that law offers; and how can you contribute to increasing access to justice.

The Queen’s speech which sets out the Government’s legislative proposals for the forthcoming year, was delivered on May 9 2012. While the headline media commentary was largely on the economy, there are matters in the proposals which – if enacted – will have an impact on the English Legal System. These are listed here, so that readers can take note of them and follow how they come into legislative form:

1 House of Lords reform – this is potentially the ‘big one’ in terms of constitutional change and political controversy. It is far from certain that sufficient political consensus will be created – in particular within the Coalition – to make its enactment an inevitability.

2 The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will contain proposals which will impact on the work of Employment Tribunals, and seek to ensure that more employment disputes are resolved by conciliation.

3 The Groceries Adjudicator Bill will create a new scheme for adjudicating disputes between consumers and the ‘big name retailers’ – thus another area of disputes will – in effect be removed from the courts. (There are over 60 industry adjudication schemes already in existence in the UK – many of them not well understood but doing work of resolving disputes that otherwise might have gone to courts).

4 The draft Local Audit Bill will, if enacted, abolish the Audit Commission, which audits the activities of local government.

5 The Children and Families Bill will amend the law on adoption. It will also bring into law changes to the Family Justice system recommended by the Norgrove report.

6 The Electoral Registration and Administration Bill will make it easier for people to register to vote.

7 The Crime and Courts Bill will give statutory authority for the creation of the National Crime Agency. It will also amend some of the current provisions relating to the making of judicial appointments. It also provides for the televising of some court proceedings.

One of the consequences of government funding cuts was the elimination of financial support for the Public Legal Education Network – a group that was doing important and innovative work to promote better public understanding of law.

Frankly I was not sure where this initiative had got to. However in the last couple of days I received a newsletter telling me that the network has reconstituted itself as Law for Life: the Foundation for Public Legal Education and that there will be a relaunch of this work in early 2012.

Among other recent activity, they have secured funding for participating in research into adult legal education in Europe; they are about to publish the results of work they have done with Bristol University; and they continue to promote the Street Law programme.

Full details are still on their old website: http://www.plenet.org.uk/
but you can sign up to their newsletter to keep in touch with developments as they unfurl.

Two recent announcements from the Ministry of Justice have been concerned with the interaction between young people and the law.

The first, called the ‘London Justice Programme’ is the latest initiative of the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law. Though based in Nottingham, the Centre has been seeking to develop national initiatives, of which the London Justice Programme is the latest development. At present there is not a lot of detail on what the programme involves, but it does provide opportunities for children at school to visit courts, hold mock trials there, and more generally become more aware of the legal system. The announcement at http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/features/feature170511a.htm provides a link to a video which gives the flavour of what is on offer.

There has also been an announcement about a new DVD – made by the Halton and Warrington Youth Offending Team (which comes under the Youth Justice Board) – which seeks to explain how restorative justice works and the demands that restorative justice measures make on those subject to them. The press announcement suggests that the DVD will be available from the YJB, but my researches do not currently indicate how it may be viewed. But it could be a useful source of information about restorative justice, challenging the perception that it is a ‘soft option’. For the press announcement, see http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/press-releases/yjb/yjb-news-release-20may2011a.htm