The Vulnerable Witness Project - Local Pro Bono:

A Grounded Theory Approach to Inspire Undergraduate Legal Research

in the Field of Human Rights

Angela Laycock

VWP Meeting 2014 VWP Delegates BCUR2013

Vulnerable Witness Project: Pro Bono Local Project • Commissioned by Greenwich Association for

Disabled People’s Centre for Independent Living (GAD) supported by Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

• Analysis of closed case through police reports to examine the effectiveness of current procedures and pre-trial processes that facilitate the giving of evidence by court in witnesses to disability hate crimes

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VWP Project Management • Team composition

– 8 (max) Level 5 & 6 undergraduates appointed to team though CV, letter& interview

– Project Administrator (postgraduate)

– Project Leader(staff)

• Organisation of Team Business

– Weekly Project Meetings

– Monthly meetings with stakeholders (term time)

– Students take responsibility for one part of investigation & record finings on VWP Moodle page

– http://moodle.gre.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=23527

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VWP: Research-based learning for the undergraduate

“There are four main ways of engaging undergraduates with research and inquiry:

— research-led: learning about current research in the discipline; — research-oriented: developing research skills and techniques; — research-based: undertaking research and inquiry; — research-tutored: engaging in research discussions.”

Healey & Jenkins Developing Undergraduate Research and Enquiry (2009 HEA)

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Teaching Undergraduates Human Rights Law Through Research: The Inspiration!

MOTIVE Prepare effective authoritative Human Rights Lawyers conviction grounded theory approach most effective method of understanding and operating Human Rights Law (HRL)

MEANS Southern African Women’s Lawyers’ (SAWL) Teaching model

OPPORTUNITY • Emerging Jurisprudence: Biosecurity; Human Rights &

Disability • Human Rights Act 1998Demand for Human Rights Law

Practitioners HRL in undergraduate curriculum

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MOTIVE: FINDING A METHODOLOGY TO DEVELOP UNDERGRADUATE EXPERTISE IN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUNDED THEORY

• de jure equality, de facto discrimination

• Set up to “bridge the gap between law and reality”*

• Led to a recognition of a need “to understand the gap before (they)

could bridge it”

• “…AN APPROACH TO LAW BASED ON THE REALITY OF HUMAN LIFE”** * Julie Stewart Interview 23.3.96 ** Hellum & Stewart (1998), Pursuing Grounded Theory in Law page 25

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MEANS: SAWL POSTGRADUATE COURSE

• Origins - Women’s Inheritance Question:

Deep Legal Pluralism

• Course - Advice to Domestic Servants; monitoring the success of the advice development of own project

• Applicable in the UK?

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Grounded Theory appropriate vehicle for development of expertise Human Rights Law

“The women’s law scholar is likely to be engaged in efforts to investigate empirically and from this to generate critiques and arguments as to how judges, lawmakers and administrators could and, perhaps, should interpret or amend the law.” ** Hellum & Stewart (1998), Pursuing Grounded Theory in Law page 26

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Opportunity Undergraduate Research

1. 2003-8: International Comparative Research Development of mechanism for integrating research project into UK Undergraduate Curriculum

2. 2008-10: Local Community Research part of undergraduate curriculum but filling gap in community knowledge (applied clinical legal education)

3. 2012-14 Pro bono: Commissioned undergraduate research project independent from degree programme

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VWP: Commissioned Pro Bono Project Motive Means Outcomes

1. Give legitimacy to

undergraduate

research projects as

bona fide

contributions to

knowledge.

2. Ensure the survival

of undergraduate

research projects in

law.

3. Continue community

partnerships.

Research

1. Team Meetings

across years

2. Stakeholder

meetings

3. Presentation &

Report

4. Fieldwork

• Value of

Undergraduate

research

• Unique reality of

student learning

experience raised

academic performance

• Employability

• Improving the

student’s experience.

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Benefits of Learning through Community Research Projects - Curricular

• Deep Learning

• Enhanced Academic Performance

• Transferable Skills & Student Development

• Teamwork

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Serving Two Masters! Research-based Learning Practicalities

Learning & Teaching

• Validation

• Assessment Regime

• Meet Resource Requirements

Research

• Research and Ethics

• Research Outcomes/Partner expectations

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VWP Student Evaluation • “The VWP enables you to widen the breadth of your

understanding of law. The VWP opens your eyes to how the law can actually affect people, both in a negative and positive way, which I feel is a vital skill needed for every future lawyer.”

Stuart Barnes 2013-14 (Level 6)

• “ The promise of working on real cases had been one of the main factors that drew me to the project, and it did not disappoint. Some of the happenings in the cases alone were very interesting, and after the tedious procedure of redacting names was complete, we were able to include these and our findings in our final presentation which we presented at the University of Plymouth to an audience of our peers at the end of the academic year. Without a doubt, I found the first year of the project very rewarding.”

Jessica Gray, 2012-14 (Level 5 &6)

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Legal Education and Training Review 2013

Recommendation 11

“There should be a distinct assessment of legal research, writing and critical thinking skills at level 5 or above in the Qualifying Law Degree … Educational providers should retain discretion in setting the context and parameters of the task, provided that it is sufficiently substantial to give students a reasonable but challenging opportunity to demonstrate their competence.”

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Legal Education and Training Review 2013 Recommendation 7

“The learning outcomes at initial stages of LSET should include reference (as appropriate to the individual practitioner’s role) to an understanding of the relationship between morality and law, the values of underpinning the legal system, and the role of lawyers in relation to those values.”

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The Vulnerable Witness Project - Local Pro Bono: A Grounded Theory Approach to Inspire Undergraduate Legal Research in the Field of Human Rights

THANK YOU Angela Laycock

A.M.Laycock@greenwich.ac.uk

References Healey, M. & Jenkins, A., (2009) Developing Undergraduate Research and Enquiry, The Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/resources/publications/developingundergraduate_final.pdf Hellum, A. & Stewart, J. (editors) (1998) Pursuing Grounded Theory in Law: South-North Experiences in Developing Women’s Law, Harare: Mond Books Kerrigan, K. & Murray, V., (editors) (2011) A Student Guide to Clinical Legal Education and Pro Bono, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan LAYCOCK, Angela. Grounding research projects in the undergraduate curriculum: assessment strategies. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 8, dec. 2013. ISSN 2044-0081. Available at: <https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/123>. Date accessed: 18 Mar. 2014 Macduff,A.(2005) ‘Deep Learning, Critical thinking and Teaching for l\aw Reform’ Legal Education Review Vol.15, no.1 &2, 2005pp125-35 SRA, BSB,IPS Legal Education and Training Review: Setting Standards: The Future of Legal Services Education and Training Regulation in England and Wales June 2013 http://letr.org.uk/

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