The Need
“In Wales, many areas have become advice deserts – with clients having long distances to reach their nearest solicitor.”
Jonathan Davies, Head of Wales for the Law Society responding to the publication of the Commission on Justice for Wales.
Why we need a Law Centre
The report of the Commission on Justice in Wales[1] published on the 28 October 2019 found that the people of Wales were being let down by the system in its current state. It found:
“The significant cuts to legal aid made in 2012 have hit Wales hard. Proper access to justice is not available with the consequent threat to the Rule of Law. This has resulted in:
- advice deserts’ in rural and post-industrial areas where people struggle to receive legal advice;
- a serious risk to the sustainability of legal practice elsewhere, especially in traditional ‘high street’ legal services; and
- increasing numbers of people representing themselves in courts and tribunals with a consequential adverse impact on outcomes and the efficient use of court resources.“
The review of the justice system by the Commission was the first in 200 years and set a long-term vision for its future. It identified a need for a mixed economy of legal aid, third sector and pro bono advice and assistance.[2] We believe that a law centre is an essential part of this mixed economy.
We hope that by developing a law centre in the north of Wales we can start, in some small way, to address the huge need. Wales currently only has one law centre: Speakeasy Law Centre based in Cardiff. It converted from being previously an advice centre to a law centre in 2019 so that it could develop its legal services and support people seeking redress in court. We hope that by setting up a new law centre we can do the same in the North.
Whilst lawyers and others have provided pro bono help and advice, these efforts are insufficient to offset the impact of the significant reductions in legal aid since 2012 when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act came into force. Overnight, most social welfare areas of law were taken out of scope for legal aid.
In 2016, the BBC reported that only one housing provider was available in four Welsh regions, including North Wales[3]. Tenants Wales managing director Steve Clarke said: “There is nothing so important than being able to maintain a roof over your head, with the ability to access professional legal advice absolutely critical at a time of housing crisis for many…self-advocacy is not recommended with such a complicated issue as housing law. This will place added pressure on voluntary organisations who themselves are facing huge cuts.”
[1] https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-10/Justice%20Commission%20ENG%20DIGITAL_2.pdf
[2] https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-10/Justice%20Commission%20ENG%20DIGITAL_2.pdf
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-36906182
The difference a Law Centre will make
The starting point for our desire to build a law centre in North Wales is the need for legal services discussed above but there are other reasons why we firmly believe that a law centre would be a particularly important contribution to the existing advice sector.
Access to advice is incredibly important and many problems can be solved with that level of assistance, but advice agencies are unable to pursue litigation. A law centre will be fully recognised as a lawyer-led organisation, delivering end-to-end advice, casework and representation in court.
Our aim is to build a law centre which meets unmet need by providing expert legal advice in housing law, immigration, public law and family law (particularly domestic abuse) in harmony with the existing advice network and ecosystem. We want to bring additional resource into North Wales through the development of joint projects and initiatives to provide second-tier advice to existing advice providers and enabling access to lawyers where legal proceedings are the only way to help individuals enforce their rights.
In addition, as a law centre, we will be part of a highly regarded and well-respected national representative and campaigning organisation (the Law Centres Network). This will allow us to work closely with other law centres and with the network more generally at both a strategic and practical level. We can share ideas and knowledge with a national network of similarly minded lawyers and benefit from their experience and knowledge as we develop the law centre in North Wales.
As a law centre, we will be able to tender for and hopefully be awarded a contract to deliver Legal Aid services areas like housing law, public law and asylum law. We will also be able to better seek specific funding to support the provision of legal services, public legal education, and other law and justice related activities.
We also aim to work closely with existing advice providers, local solicitors and law students from the University of Bangor. We hope to build strong partnerships with local solicitors and provide valuable work experience and volunteering opportunities for law students.
Perhaps more than anything else though, we believe that the creation of a law centre, and the publicity that its creation and ongoing presence will garner, will create greater awareness of people’s legal rights and ensure that everyone has somewhere they can go to for help in enforcing those rights.
