LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THE LAW: Launch of findings & recommendations (ICPR Birkbeck, Revolving Doors & Nuffield Foundation)

What do people going through our court system think 'the law' really is? How is this shaped? How can their experiences be improved?

For the past three years, the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR), Birkbeck and Revolving Doors have worked in partnership on a research and policy project – Lived Experience of the Law -- seeking to answer these questions.

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Lived Experience of the Law has developed new insight into how ‘the law’ is understood and experienced by people personally involved in court proceedings. 

We examined how contact with the law over time may shape people’s personal views, expectations and experiences of effective participation, access to justice and the role and value of the criminal justice system. By seeking to understand these from a lived experience perspective and through policy workshops, this research has created opportunities to discuss the kinds of policy and practice reforms needed to improve people’s experiences of the courts. 

With court backlogs stretching towards the 2030s and justice headlines dominating the news, the day-to-day experience of people in contact with both our family and criminal courts offers the key to understanding how we can build a stronger, more sustainable system.

From the very start, this project has been co-produced alongside a team of trained peer researchers from Revolving Doors who have their own lived experience of the justice system. Their insights have guided us every step of the way: co-developing trauma-informed research materials, co-conducting interviews, co-analysing findings and co-facilitating policy workshops.

We invite you to join us on 16 July as we launch the final Lived Experience of the Law findings and recommendations. With the culmination of three years' worth of insight, we'll be presenting an in-depth view of how ordinary people experience and understand the law and justice, and how policymakers, researchers and legal professionals can harness these understandings to shape a better justice system for all.

Please note this is a hybrid event (London location for in-person attendees TBC), 6pm-7:30pm.