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Paths to Justice is a landmark body of survey research that has provided critical data on the public experience of the justice system and transformed understanding of and government policy on the legal needs of citizens. Its impact has been both national and international, and it has led to:
The research:
1.1 was used in EU negotiations on EU Directives on procedural rights for suspects and defendants as the `leading study in the field' to address deficiencies in existing mechanisms;
1.2 informed the training of more than 250 judges, prosecutors and lawyers from at least 23 EU member states regarding respect for and implementation of procedural rights;
1.3 provided a template used by NGOs in other regions in their investigations of procedural rights in practice; these include a consortium of NGOs in six Latin America countries who are using it in order to produce positive changes in regulation and practice.
Police and courts in the UK require interpreters in over 100 languages paired with English every day. Legal interpreters are an essential part of the justice system, and their efficient integration into legal proceedings is crucial to ensuring fairness and efficiency of justice. Current problems with the outsourcing of court interpreting services by the Ministry of Justice and the recent cuts to legal aid have increased the need for cost-efficient and viable solutions for legal interpreting.
Surrey's research investigated the quality and viability of `remote interpreting' in legal proceedings, delivered via videoconference, as an alternative to traditional onsite delivery. The findings were used to develop good practice guidelines, consultancy and training. The training was customised for the Metropolitan Police and delivered to over ca. 700 legal interpreters across Europe between 2009 and 2013. The guidelines were adopted as European-wide by the European Council Working Party on e-Justice in 2012.
The impact of a research programme into quality assessment measures for publicly funded legal services has been the establishment of a peer review programme for all civil and criminal lawyers operating in Scotland, England and Wales. This programme has ensured that the quality of service provided by legal aid lawyers in Scotland is consistently high, with only 10% of providers failing routine reviews. Moreover, the errors that do emerge are primarily administrative failings rather than poor legal advice. The Scottish model has been the basis for pilot projects in the Netherlands, Finland and Moldova, and has been drawn on for a peer review programme for all Dutch notaries.
The capacity of national and international criminal justice institutions to investigate and prosecute the most serious international crimes has been significantly strengthened as a result of Professor Bekou's research. They gain, through `legal tools', universal access to legal information and to analytical legal frameworks which facilitate the efficient and effective administration of international criminal justice. By offering access to knowledge, skills and expertise, the International Criminal Court as well as States, e.g. the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone are empowered to overcome the key challenges restricting their ability and capacity to pursue justice for atrocities.
The problem of how to combat terrorism while respecting fundamental values has become increasingly acute. The research has addressed this problem by influencing the formation, design, development, and governance of counter-terrorism laws through recommendations for legal and policy reform directed at promoting and strengthening key values which cohere around the concept of `constitutionalism' (defined in 2 below). The recommendations have been endorsed by policy reviewers primarily in the UK but also in Australia.
By exploring the social and economic effects of cuts in funding for legal aid, this research directly influenced legislation aimed at preserving legal aid for welfare benefit appeals. This was a major victory for campaigners who cited the research to lobby against cuts proposed by the 2011 Legal Aid Bill. The research informed a proposed House of Lords amendment to the Bill. Although the amendment was turned back by the House of Commons, welfare benefit appeals on points of law were discussed during the second reading and retained within the scope of legal aid funding.
Whether assisted dying should be legalised is often treated as an ethical question transcending national boundaries and legal systems. Work in this field is dominated by partisan exhortation by proponents or opponents of legalisation. Professor Lewis's comparative research on legal change on assisted dying highlights the central importance of the choice of legal route in shaping regulatory regimes, evaluates the impact of legalisation on non-voluntary euthanasia (the `slippery slope' argument) and assesses the effectiveness of regulation in permissive jurisdictions. Her critique of the unsatisfactory legal position in the UK coupled with expert interventions, have shaped and informed policy debate, and directly influenced the campaign to legalise assisted suicide and ongoing judicial challenges to the current position. Elsewhere, her work has directly contributed to legal change in Canada and a Bill in Australia.
This research informed the introduction and on-going implementation of a major criminal policy innovation, namely, Pre-Trial Witness Interviewing (PTWI) by Crown Prosecutors across England and Wales. It was conducted in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and provided independent evaluation of PTWI as an integral component of the piloting phase prior to national roll-out. The research formed part of the initial PTWI training of selected Crown Prosecutors and, following roll-out, continued to serve as a resource for frontline prosecutors, affecting case progression, complainants' experiences and the outcomes of criminal cases (prominently including serious sexual assaults and domestic violence).
Much has been written about mental condition defences such as insanity and diminished responsibility together with the cognate doctrine of unfitness to plead. However, most of this work has been doctrinal rather than empirical. This case study has developed a sustained and continuing understanding of how certain mental condition defences operate in practice, primarily through empirical analysis. R.D. Mackay's empirical studies of both the insanity defence and unfitness to plead and his studies of diminished responsibility, provocation and infanticide have been used by and have influenced law reform bodies, legislators, policy development and legal analysis.