About CAJ

Our vision is to provide a world-leading legal education dedicated to promoting access to justice and to inspire a student body committed to addressing inequality before the law.

Our Mission  

• Meet community need through the provision of high quality legal casework
• Inspire the next generation of social welfare lawyers 
• Promote the ethical and professional development of our students
• Be a leading voice for clinical legal education (CLE), committed to innovative teaching practices
• Create an inclusive student community that enables all students to thrive
• Generate systemic change through research, influencing policy, and community engagment. 

Founded in 2013 within UCL Faculty of Laws, the Centre for Access to Justice (CAJ) combines progressive experiential teaching and multi-disciplinary research-based learning with the provision of pro bono legal advice and representation to low income and disadvantaged local communities.  Our work predominantly centres around the areas of welfare benefits, housing, community care, and education.

UCL Laws has been a leader in access to justice and the incorporation of casework and social justice awareness into the law degree programmes we offer. Working with charity organisations and legal professionals and through our own in-house provision, the Centre provides legal assistance to members of the local community while giving students an opportunity to gain hands on experience in meeting legal needs and critically reflect on the role of law in society.

At the core of our activities is the Faculty’s own access to justice research, underpinning both our approach to teaching as well as how we provide services and engage with the community. Understanding the broader implications that a lack of access to justice can have, we take a holistic approach to resolving the legal problems our clients face while also placing an emphasis on community engagement and outreach. 

For the last 20 years, the Faculty’s ground-breaking research has had significant impact on access to justice policies and the delivery of legal services both in the UK and abroad. Building on this history, the Centre continues to produce research which aims to stimulate debate and inform policy around access to justice issues. 

To encourage students to make the most of their degree while at UCL, the Centre also runs a wide-ranging pro bono programme to allow students to develop both personally and professionally and to place their degree in the context of the real world.