小欧视频 is part of an innovative new research centre, led by the 小欧视频 of Liverpool, aimed at responding to the public鈥檚 need and desire for fairer, safer and more inclusive societies. The 拢5.8m Centre includes a 拢4.1m investment by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, the largest grant it has ever awarded to a Law School.
The Centre for People鈥檚 Justice is a coalition of 45 organisations from community, business, philanthropic, cultural, artistic, charitable, legal, government and university sectors. It will work across the UK, as a partnership between the 小欧视频 of Liverpool and the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Swansea, Wrexham, Ulster and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies London.
Collaborating with household names such as The Big Issue, Citizens Advice, and The Royal Shakespeare Company, the Centre will develop a creative programme of research and training aimed at connecting the public more closely with the ways in which the law is made, improving accountability for how the law is put into practice, and enhancing people鈥檚 understanding of their legal rights.
The Centre will take a grassroots approach, empowering communities to prioritise and co-produce research that responds to some of the most pressing social and legal issues including food insecurity, low-waged work, tackling violence and conflict and children鈥檚 rights.
For example, an initial project, 鈥楾he Brown Envelope Project鈥, will focus on the way in which the public understand and respond to official correspondence from the authorities. Everyday law and legal processes are often experienced by the public as a letter delivered in a brown envelope through their front door, for example about an unpaid energy bill, benefits information, or a parking fine. The charity, Citizens Advice, have highlighted how such letters can invoke fear, confusion and distress, particularly for those with literacy, language, health difficulties, or those under severe financial pressure. It can mean people avoid engaging with the problem, which leads to further difficulties and money being spent on administration costs that could be better directed elsewhere. The research will find out about how people respond to 鈥榖rown envelope鈥 letters. It will involve the public in designing solutions in which information is clearer, more effective and can better support people to address problems, working with government offices and energy companies to identify how these public recommendations could be implemented.
The Big Issue has been around for 33 years now, and we have grown by listening to the real-life needs and experiences of our homeless vendors. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e excited about our involvement with the Centre for People鈥檚 Justice. It represents the first time that The Big Issue has ever been invited to be a university research partner and is a unique opportunity to build a new and structured way for homeless and other excluded people to be involved in creating knowledge through research.
Parveen Bird
Director at the Big Issue
The Centre鈥檚 university partners are already home to some of the UK鈥檚 leading law clinics, where lawyers work with students to provide free legal advice, information and representation to many thousands of people on issues ranging from sexual violence, special educational needs and disabilities, asylum and immigration, housing and employment rights. The Centre for People鈥檚 Justice will support creative innovation in legal practice and education across these clinics with a view to nurturing the next generation of social justice practitioners.
鈥淭he Centre for People鈥檚 Justice presents an exciting opportunity for Sheffield 小欧视频 to work with individuals, communities, organisations and partner universities from across the UK to develop a new approach to research that is creative, that addresses people鈥檚 everyday concerns and creates opportunities to imaginatively design laws and legal structures that achieve good and just outcomes. Working closely with our partner organisations in creative industries, in legal and governmental organisations, and across the charitable sector the Centre鈥檚 activities will also support meaningful change.鈥
Co-convenor of the Centre, School of Law at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield
AHRC Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith said: 鈥淥ur commitment to research in and innovation arising from the study of law and justice illustrates our belief in the potential of arts and humanities research to improve the lives of everyone across the UK and represents the growing importance and excellence of sociolegal research across the UK, which is of world class quality.
"Our legal system is and has been for centuries fundamental to a resilient and secure society. It is essential that access to justice is available to all, a principle enshrined already in the Magna Carta. That's why this centre's work is so important, and we look forward to its concrete and significant policy recommendations."