Irish Travellers Movement

Leaping Barriers: a report on access for non-typical students into legal education

Dr. Zachary Lyons

Foreword: Prof. Gerry Whyte

Legal Education for All Project 2008

The opinions expressed in this document are, unless otherwise clearly stated, those of the author and do not represent official policies of the Higher Education Institutions, professional bodies, and other agencies or organizations that may have provided support for this project.

Acknowledgments

As is apparent by the significant participation of educators, education coordinators, researchers, academics, lecturers, trainers, stakeholders and mainstream providers of legal education and others, it is clear many people attach considerable importance to the issues relating to post-secondary and legal education of students from disadvantaged communities. Without their participation and co-operation, this research could not have been successfully completed.

I would also like to thank Sinead Lucey for her work in compiling essential research questions which formed the basis for the questionnaire used in this research. I am also grateful to Frank Murphy, Elizabeth Davidson and David Joyce for their advice throughout the course of this research and to Phil Mullen for her input on intercultural research topics.

This research was conducted in compliance with the Code of Ethics of Social Researchers as drawn up by the Sociological Association of Ireland (http://www.ucd.ie/sai/SAI_ethics.htm) and in compliance with the Data Protection Act (http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1988/en/act/pub/0025/index.html).

Foreword

While we have not yet had a comprehensive, empirical survey of the factors which prevent marginalised individuals and communities from availing of legal services in this jurisdiction, it is generally agreed that these include the cost of legal services; the fact that many marginalised individuals are unaware of the legal rights (and that many lawyers may equally be unfamiliar with such rights); and the fact that an intimidating psychological or cultural barrier exists between socially deprived individuals and the legal world. LEAP is a pioneering attempt to address the second and third of these factors. Bringing together Travellers and people from Ballymun, it shows how to deliver a programme of legal education to disadvantaged communities. It also sought to instil in the participants a sense of confidence in their dealings with the legal system and an expectation that they are as much entitled to be part of that system as anyone else.

The LEAP Development Partnership considered it important to commission, as part of this pilot project, top quality research into the issue of improving access to legal education for disadvantaged individuals and communities so as to inform a wider, national debate on this topic. Leaping Barriers: a report on access for non-typical students into legal education, by Zachary Lyons, has succeeded admirably in making a thoughtful and important contribution to this debate. His report examines the barriers to the participation of people from marginalised communities in legal education and also outlines best practice from legal education access programmes in other jurisdictions. More significantly, this research poses a series of challenges to stakeholders working in the area of legal education. In particular, the providers of legal education are encouraged to assess the effectiveness of their present systems for recruiting and retaining disadvantaged and minority students; to see how such systems might be improved; to consider what additional support structures are needed for such students; and to implement regular equity audits of their access policies.

The issue of access to legal education is part of the wider question of access to the law and legal services generally. This, in turn, feeds into the perennial debate about how to secure social justice in our society so that, in the words of the Preamble to our Constitution, ?the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured [and] true social order attained.? Zachary Lyons has now made an important contribution to this debate and his report is essential reading for all those interested in how the legal system may be used to promote social cohesion.

Gerry Whyte

Law School,

Trinity College Dublin 20 February 2008