UK and Ireland Street Law Conference 2022 Review

Abstract

The UK and Ireland Street Law Conference brings together academics, lawyers, students, and other Street Law enthusiasts to promote, support and celebrate public legal education (PLE) and the progress being made in this important field. Normally held annually, this was the first conference since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, taking place over the 7th and 8th April 2022 and hosted in Edinburgh by the Law Society of Scotland. The conference was centred around Street Law’s commitment and desire in helping the lay person to ‘understand their rights and responsibilities in a world full of increasingly complex and obtuse legal systems.’ The ethos of the conference was to provide a valuable resource within the PLE community for those who were present across the two-day conference and for future guidance. As students and Street Law initiators, it was gratifying to be a piece and player on the chessboard - to interact, connect and understand the multitude of approaches to teaching and learning in a Street Law context. In accordance with the principle of collaboration and to promote open education, this article aims to collate the insightful topics and discussions from the key-note sessions. This article will then move on to discuss the value of the conference from the perspective of students as well as wider stakeholders in PLE programmes. Further, we will explore how the conference could be improved moving forward with suggestions as to how students and future lawyers and/or professionals, can contribute to PLE in the future.