Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

The Howard League for Prison Reform, established in the mid 19th century, is a national charity ‘working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison. Too much money is spent on a penal system which doesn’t work, doesn’t make our communities safer and fails to reduce offending’.

In this podcast I talk to Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the League. She speaks about the work of the League, noting some of the successful impacts it has made in recent years. She talks about penal policy in the UK arguing that it operates in a more ‘punitive’ way than other European countries (including former Easter-bloc). She makes a passionate defence of the current probation service and deplores the current Government’s approach to reform of the service. Finally she calls on those setting out on their legal studies to understand the importance of social justice as an aspect of being a professional lawyer.

You can listen to Frances at http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Crook.mp3

To read about the work of the Howard League go to http://www.howardleague.org/

In this podcast I talk to Lizzie Nelson, who is Director of the Restorative Justice Council. The Council is a small charitable organisation that exists to promote the use of restorative justice, not just in the court (criminal justice) context, but in other situations of conflict as well (e.g. schools).

There is evidence that restorative justice can help the victims of crime to come to terms with what has happened to them and can also help the perpetrators of crime to realise the consequences of what they have done. There is good evidence that, used well, restorative justice can reduce reoffending.

In this podcast Lizzie Nelson explains both the concept of RJ and talks about the work of the council.

For further information see http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/

The research by Professor Joanna Shapland, and others, which Lizzie talks about in the interview can be found in Restorative Justice in Practice, Evaluating What Works for Victims and Offenders (Authors Joanna Shapland, Gwen Robinson, Angela Sorsby) – further details at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781843928454/

Listen to Lizzie Nelson at http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Nelson.mp3

In January 2013, I wrote a short note about pro bono costs – costs recovered from a losing party, where the winning party to the litigation has been represented pro bono (for free). In these cases, the payments do not go to the litigant – by definition, being represented for free they have paid nothing – but to a charity, the Access to Justice Foundation.

In this podcast I talk to Ruth Daniel, CEO of the Foundation and the work it does throughout the country.

Listen to Ruth at http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Daniel.mp3

For more information about the Foundation go to http://www.accesstojusticefoundation.org.uk/

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Institute sets standards for and regulates the activities of legal executive, who play an important role in the delivery of legal services.
Those who left school but decided for what ever reason not to go to university, but who nonetheless wish to work in a legal environment can – by joining the Chartered Institute and studying the different courses it offers – become qualified in specific areas of legal expertise.
They can also become fully qualified solicitors (though not barristers).
A major attraction of this way of entering the legal profession is that you can work while you qualify – and thus avoid much of the expense now associated with obtaining a professional legal qualification.
You can find out more about the Chartered Institute by going to their website at http://www.cilex.org.uk/.

In this podcast I talk with the Chief Executive of CILEX about the challenges facing the legal profession and the opportunities provided for Legal Executives in the rapidly developing legal world.
Go to http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Burleigh.mp3

There have been a number of recent podcasts and blog entries recently reflecting on the future of the legal profession – see for example podcasts with Richard Susskind and Crispin Passmore and the blog entries relating to the Legal Services Act 2007.

In this podcast I talk to Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, who takes over as President of the Law Society of England and Wales in July 2012. I talk to her about the challenges facing the solicitor’s branch of the legal profession and the optimism she feels about the future. She is confident that solicitors will respond imaginatively to new challenges.

I also talk to her about the innovative model of private practice which she has developed – the ‘virtual’ firm – which enables her still to offer legal aid services to the public in important areas of law such as mental health and child protection. See http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/aboutlawsociety/whoweare/chiefexecholders.law

Listen to Lucy Scott-Moncrieff at http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/ScottMoncrieff.mp3

The Judicial College was created by bringing together separate arrangements that had previously existed for training judicial office-holders in the courts (the Judicial Studies Board) and Tribunals Service (through the Tribunals Judicial Training Group). In this podcast I talk to its Chairman Lady Justice Hallett about the reasons for the change and ways in which the College is developing new ideas about judicial education. She particularly mentions the international links it has been establishing.

More information about the College can be found at http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/training-support/judicial-college.

To hear the interview, go to http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/orc/resources/law/els/partington13_14/student/podcasts/Hallett.mp3