The attorney general is to oversee a revamped public legal education committee guided by five new principles. The principles, established at a ‘PLE policy hackathon’, are headlined legal capability, evidence-led, active participation, responsive and national mission.
The principle of legal capability states that public legal education will give people the confidence, skills and knowledge to understand their rights and responsibilities, ‘promoting a rule of law culture where everyone can use the law effectively in their own lives to solve and prevent problems and improve wellbeing’.
On active participation, public legal education ‘is developed and delivered with communities, recognising people as individuals with unique experiences and needs, not simply as “users” or “cases”’.
Lord Hermer (Richard Hermer KC) will provide strategic oversight and attend the four committee meetings to be held annually. His office will provide secretariat support. Sub-groups on adult and youth audiences will continue.
The committee was launched by then solicitor general Robert Buckland QC in 2017. Public legal education had its own all-party parliamentary group, which united with groups on legal aid and pro bono in 2023.
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