“Legal rights and responsibilities permeate and enhance all aspects of citizenship” yet there exists great public uncertainty and ignorance about the nature and function of the law and legal system in this country. Or rather, there is both legal ignorance and legal misinformation to contend with, the latter stemming perhaps from rumour, poor advice from family or friends or even law related television programmes. Effective legal education provides both the knowledge and the confidence to use it. But how can this be delivered and is there a role for Barristers to get involved and share their expertise?

Legal education has been central to the work of the Citizenship Foundation since it was founded in 1989. Its predecessor, the Law in Education Project, was initiated by solicitor Andrew Phillips (now OBE) and funded by the Law Society.  This landmark project was designed to engage both teachers and students in law-related matters particularly as citizenship education was not then statutory. It did this by helping non legally trained teachers handle the subject more confidently in class and to introduce students to their legal rights and responsibilities and the role of law in democratic society. Concepts such as rights, duties, responsibilities, justice, law, power, and authority were introduced in a way that encouraged, for the first time, the development of knowledge and understanding of the law as well as engaging students critically with the content and purpose of the legislation, and encouraging critical thinking and democratic discussion.
 
In its subsequent work the Citizenship Foundation has endeavoured to establish legal understanding, otherwise known as legal literacy as an entitlement, not just for young people, but for everyone. Effective citizenship requires people to be informed and engaged and possess knowledge of their legal rights in everyday situations as well as something of the legal principles underpinning them. Law affects nearly every part of our lives and as an entitlement, people should be able to have an understanding of laws they may be at risk of breaking through ignorance.

Clearly the law is a huge subject, but legal literacy, a real and effective understanding of how the law and legal system works in this country doesn’t necessitate a detailed understanding of all laws and statutes. What it does require however is a base, an understanding of what law is and how it can be used. Skills such as seeking evidence, and an understanding of concepts such as justice, fairness, reasonableness and duty of care can be carried around by citizens and used to facilitate their everyday lives. Rather than knowledge of how to remedy every legal issue they may face, (the role of the legal professional) legal literacy would both empower people to seek a remedy and facilitate their search for it. It would provide an understanding of the best recourse for different disputes, how to use the law effectively as a tool, and where there may be a more appropriate course of action.

Prior to 2002, it had not been common practice to teach law in schools as part of a basic social education. Where GSCE and A’ Level law, were (and still are) taught, the focus was predominantly academic in nature with content often largely based around criminal law. While this kind of learning is valid it had not previously led to equal access to the kind of knowledge which could enable all students to gain an understanding of their rights and responsibilities, or of civil law, which “for most people, for most of the time,…has the greater impact on their lives.”

When citizenship education was made statutory for Secondary schools in September 2002, the focus was on law as a practical and enabling subject. Focus was shifted to both everyday situations and to practical skills. Defining the law as a cornerstone of democratic society which affects everyone’s lives helps students to understand how it is relevant to them and furthermore how such an understanding could provide the confidence and tools to deal with everyday problems they face, whether it relevant to buying faulty goods, problems with a landlord or employer or understanding the legal context of pirate DVDs.

The citizenship curriculum requires students to learn about (inter alia) “the legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society and how they relate to citizens, including the role and operation of the criminal and civil justice systems; the work of the courts in making and shaping the law; and the rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees.”

Initially there was (and still is) a certain degree of apprehension and reluctance from many schools and teachers, who also faced student preconceptions about the subject, where they claimed that it was either dull, boring and irrelevant, or that what they had learnt from watching television was accurate and sufficient knowledge to put to practical use.

Yet, as understanding of the importance and relevance of the subject has increased in the classrooms, evidence shows that teachers still don’t feel confident in teaching it. Considering that many of the topics covered at the practical level, are highly pertinent to the personal lives of teachers as well as their students, we are given an idea of the general lack of confidence in the public generally. Law remains in fact the area in which teachers feel least confident in teaching.

Recognising this, the Citizenship Foundation has developed a number of projects designed to get trained professionals into the classroom. For example our recently re-launched Twinning: Lawyers in schools programme pairs solicitors from law firms and legal departments of companies with local schools to deliver a specially written programme on topics such as rights and responsibilities, consumer law, employment law, human rights, police powers, and youth justice.

Similarly, one of our flagship projects, the Bar National Mock Trial Competition, run in partnership with the Bar Council enables over 2,000 15-18 year olds from schools throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to interact directly with over 300 barristers, judges and other legal professionals and get inside Crown Courts. Now in its sixteenth successful year, the Competition seeks to introduce the legal system to young people in an innovative and exciting way.  Taking part in a mock trial provides the real hands on experience that helps young people gain an understanding of criminal law, the criminal justice system, and how courts work.

To enter the Competition, students take on the roles of lawyers, witnesses, court staff and jurors and prepare the prosecution and defence of two specially written criminal cases. Teams have the support of a local barrister or advocate and compete against each other in a live format at Crown Courts with their performances judged by real Judges, recorders, senior barristers and advocates. One of the cases last year looked at protecting your home against intruders with reasonable force, while this year participants are examining the law around misuse of drugs and criminal damage.

While providing students with an academic background of the statutes involved, the active learning aspect provides the practical understanding of the process. Skills such as listening, reasoning and of course arguing come into play as do considering other people’s experiences and thinking about, expressing, explaining and critically evaluating views that are not their own (as required by the Citizenship National Curriculum).

The Competition relies on the support of the Bar and is indicative of the Bar’s commitment to encouraging public understanding of the legal profession and diversity within the Bar. Each year, sixteen regional heats take place around the country in the autumn before the winning team from each goes on to the National Final held in March. Each regional heat relies on a Regional coordinator who matches volunteer barristers with participating schools and recruits Judges, recorders, senior barristers and advocates to act as judges for the heats.  Volunteer barristers help teams prepare for the competition and support them on the day of the Regional Heat. They commit to at least one school visit to watch the team in action and advise on how they could improve by giving tips on the roles of barristers, witnesses, court staff and judges as well as guiding on court procedure, statements, evidence and strengths and weaknesses of cases.

Last year nearly 80% of schools taking part had a barrister helper and in the evaluation 100% of these schools highly valued their input, agreeing that this was key to their preparations. Speaking about the students energy and enjoyment when taking part in a heat, a volunteer barrister noted last year: “Enthusiasm and eagerness are qualities rarely associated with the courts and to observe them in the Mock Trial Competition is ample reward for prior endeavour.” Among the judges at the final last year was Stephen Hockman QC, Chairman of the Bar Council, who commented: “The Mock Trial Competition is a valuable opportunity for young people to gain an understanding of the law. The participants have worked extremely hard and performed to such a standard that I can see some star advocates of the future among the competitors”.

The competition relies on a vast number of committed people from the Citizenship Foundation and the Bar Council of England and Wales, and also the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, the Bar Council of Northern Ireland, the Inns of Court and the Circuits, and Her Majesty’s Courts Service. In particular, the dedicated work of the chair of the working party Christopher Kinch QC (Trustee of the Citizenship Foundation) and Carole Atkinson deserve recognition and have helped the Competition to continue to achieve its overall goals:

Of course, there are many routes to legal literacy of which this is just one. The Foundation aims to produce a range of materials suitable for community related projects, written guides (notably the Young Citizen’s Passport, a guide to the law) and resources. Equally there are a number of other organisations producing excellent resources and tools for legal literacy such as BANES and the Galleries of Justice/Rizer project.

Dan Mace, a Trustee of the Citizenship Foundation and Vice Chair of the Public Legal Education and Skills Task Force led by Dame Professor Hazel Genn QC, ties up the work of both saying “The ground breaking work of the Citizenship Foundation feeds directly into the promotion of legal education which the task force is reviewing. We know that over 1 million problems go unsolved each year because people don’t know their basic rights or how to seek help. The Citizenship Foundation is happy to work with the Bar to reduce this number by raising awareness of the role and rule of law.”