In this series of blog posts, Paul Dale, an Associate Lecturer at The Open University, final year law students Jon Stitcher, Lucy Tomlinson and Sean Harker, and  ‘prisoner mentor’, Malcolm, reflect on their experiences of teaching public legal education in Her Majesty’s Prison Oakwood.

Paul

In this series of reflections, a number of Open University law students discuss their experiences delivering public legal education in HMP Wormwood Scrubs, which they visited along with law lecturers, Keren Lloyd Bright and Kate Richie. There were five visits in all, during which ‘Law and Society’ seminars were held within the prison’s Education Department. The topics for the seminars were chosen by the inside students (prisoners).

Our latest guest blog is provided by Angbeen Mirza, a lawyer and research based in Lahore, Pakistan. In it, Angbeen discusses her work conducting Street Law programmes in Lahore and discusses how Street Law programmes can be part of a wider social movement for change, which have particular resonance in an emergent democracy.

Our latest guest blog was contributed by Nick Titchener, Director & Solicitor-Advocate at the criminal defence solicitors firm Lawtons Law.

For many areas of legal practice, the concept of pro bono work is something altruistic, when the legal profession is giving something back, the provision of expertise, time and skills for nothing.

This guest blog is by Nabeela Siddiqui. She is pursuing her Master’s in Law from the Department of Legal Studies at University of Madras, India. She is also working on a project titled ‘Faith Based Organisations and Refugee Crisis’. Lately, she also interned at AALCO (Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization) and the Supreme Court of India. If you would be interesting in contributing a guest blog, please contact us at open-justice@open.ac.uk

Blog post by Francine Ryan, lecturer in law and member of the Open Justice team.

Students working on The OU’s Open Justice project will be aware that the availability of free legal advice and representation has become increasingly limited over recent years and, for those in need of legal services, the thought of self-funding the legal help they need can seem a particularly daunting prospect.

The Open University is one of the UK’s most recognisable higher education institutions, not least because of its long time partnership with the BBC. Right from the OU’s inception as a ‘university of the air’ OU educational content has been broadcast into the homes of the nation, often during the small hours of the morning. The advent of video recorders and iPlayer means that OU students no longer have to stay up past their bedtime to benefit from this content, but the OU / BBC partnership remains an important way in which the University engages with the wider public.

his guest blog is by Nabeela Siddiqui. She is pursuing her Master’s in Law from the Department of Legal Studies at University of Madras, India. She is also working on a project titled ‘Humara Kanoon’, under the supervision of Supreme Court Lawyer Avani Bansal at Avani Bansal Chambers (ABC). Lately, she also interned at AALCO (Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization) and the Supreme Court of India.

This guest blog is by Open University law student and Open University Law Society Officer for Scotland, Lidia Dancu.

Modern slavery and human trafficking are burning issues both at home and abroad and it appears surprising that, in 2017, slavery can still pose a challenge. Criminalising the enslaving and trafficking of people does not appear to be a sufficient deterrent.