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UCL CAJ Staff and Students respond to the Government’s RoCLA Call for Evidence
4 March 2024
A team of staff and students from the UCL Centre for Access to Justice have responded to the recent call for evidence as part of the Government Review into Civil Legal Aid, submitting evidence related to career development and diversity in the profession.
In January 2023, the Government announced its Review into Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA). The Review will explore options to improve the long-term sustainability of the civil legal aid system. As part of the Review, on 10 January 2024, the Government launched a call for evidence ‘inviting interested parties to submit evidence that would inform the review, strengthening it’s evidence based and feeding into the development of short and long-term policy solutions’. They sought evidence related to fees, user needs, use of technology, and career development and diversity.
A team of student volunteers from UCL iLAC researched and drafted a response to the call for evidence related to career development and diversity, focusing on the challenges and barriers facing students wishing to pursue careers in legal aid. Citing research carried out by CAJ’s Founding Director, Professor Jacqueline Kinghan, students highlighted the factors which discourage students from pursuing careers in legal aid.These include a lack of awareness of the sector and the poor financial viability of legal-aid careers.
UCL CAJ’s Director Rachel Knowles said: "As the only university to hold a legal aid contract, we believe that the Centre and our clinic volunteers are well-placed to respond to questions about career development and the challenges in pursuing legal aid as a career. Our response draws attention to the existing research and supplements it with the experiences of our own students, highlighting that, for the majority of students, a career in legal aid is simply not a financially viable option."
As part of this work, students drafted and distributed a short survey for UCL Laws students exploring motivations and challenges around careers in legal aid which reinforced findings from previous research. Their findings, along with the other submitted evidence, will inform the Review and feed into the future policy development work of the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking about his experience, UCL Laws LLM student and UCL iLAC Volunteer, Noah Hauk, said: "I volunteered to help draft the response because, during my time working pro bono, I realised the need to lower entry barriers for new talent to practice in the sector. Partaking in the project, I have learned how to formulate effective surveys and conduct further legal research as part of a wider group. I especially enjoyed challenging myself to engage in the project because of the impact it may have on how the government supports the legal aid sector in the future."
The Centre’s response is available to view or download:
