Community Legal Service Research Articles

Study on the effect of community legal consciousness health management on cognitive function of senile patients

BackgroundSenile asthenia is an old-age syndrome. Patients have increased vulnerability due to degenerative changes in the body and a variety of chronic diseases. Senile asthenia involves multiple bodily system functions of patients and is a pre-disease state. Its incidence shows an upward trend with the increase in the age. This study takes community health service as the breakthrough point to explore the role of community legal awareness health management in improving the cognitive function of elderly frail patients, hoping to provide references for improving the health level of elderly frail patients.Subjects and Methods660 elderly patients who were hospitalized at our hospital from June to December 2021 were selected as the study objects and were randomly divided into the management intervention group and the general group, with 30 cases each. Both groups of patients were given basic disease treatment and in-hospital rehabilitation guidance, while the management intervention group increased community legal awareness of health management services at community health service stations. The cognitive function of patients was evaluated by Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). The senile weakness, cognitive function score, and quality of life of the two groups of patients were compared and analyzed.ResultsIt can be seen from the comparison of the cognitive function scores of the two groups of patients that the cognitive function level of the management intervention group is significantly higher than that of the conventional group. The cognitive function score of the management intervention group after treatment is 26.46±2.39 points, and that of the conventional group after treatment is 23.58±2.41 points. The difference between the two groups is statistically significant (P < 0.05). As shown in Table 1.Table 1.MMSE scores of two groups of patients before and after treatmentModeManagement intervention groupGeneral grouptPBefore treatment22.54±2.3722.56±2.291.305>0.05After treatment26.46±2.3923.58±2.416.398<0.05t6.4542.743--P<0.05>0.05--ConclusionsCarrying out community legal awareness health management services can effectively improve the cognitive function level of the elderly and weak patients, and promote the improvement of the quality of life of the elderly and weak patients. Publicizing legal awareness to the elderly and weak patients and carrying out community health and health management services can help the elderly and weak patients solve their life problems in time. Legal awareness management education with disease prevention and health education can promote cognitive function training and improvement of the elderly and weak patients.

‎2023 First Research and Impact Evaluation Report of the Health Justice Partnership on ‎Mental Health and Wellbeing (BBM)- Addressing the Torment of Powerlessness: ‎ Bagaraybang bagaraybang mayinygalang (BBM): Empowering & Alleviating: A Health ‎Justice Partnership (HJP) of the Hume Riverina Community Legal Service (HRCLS) & ‎Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS) offering legal support for social ‎& emotional well-being with

‎2023 First Research and Impact Evaluation Report of the Health Justice Partnership on ‎Mental Health and Wellbeing (BBM)- Addressing the Torment of Powerlessness: ‎ Bagaraybang bagaraybang mayinygalang (BBM): Empowering & Alleviating: A Health ‎Justice Partnership (HJP) of the Hume Riverina Community Legal Service (HRCLS) & ‎Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS) offering legal support for social ‎& emotional well-being with

The ethical chatbot: A viable solution to socio-legal issues

Chatbots are becoming important today because of their various technical functions. They are commonly known for providing legal guidance on processes and general information. However, chatbots can also help solve issues of social disconnectedness. This article takes a wide view of the various types of chatbot that deal with socio-legal issues, with a focus on the use of chatbots by organisations that provide certain forms of legal services, such as community legal services. It highlights the chatbot’s ability to create a social impact, while ensuring adherence to rules of legal ethics and principles of ethics in Artificial Intelligence.

تحديد دور العيادات القانونية بموجب قانون المساعدة القانونية النيجيري

Legal aid and the provision of legal assistance to poor and indigent citizens forms a core to the promotion, protection and enforcement of fundamental human rights especially for a vast majority of Nigerians who live below the poverty line and cannot afford the services of legal practitioners which constitutes a major impediment to access to justice. When individuals have access to legal aid, they are able to enforce and seek the protection of their basic rights in line with the principles of equality and the rule of law. In furtherance of these objectives, the Legal Aid Act of Nigeria 2011 was passed, which provided a mechanism for a scheme to provide legal assistance to those entitled to such services. The law sets out the operational framework for legal aid, the scope of legal aid, those entitled to legal assistance and specially recognizes the role of non-state actors such as NGO’s, Law Clinics and Paralegals in providing legal aid. This paper identifies and maps the role of law clinics as provided under the law in the areas of criminal defense, advice and assistance in civil matters and community legal services. The work will also highlight some of the challenges that hinder the effective provision of legal assistance under the scheme, which include insufficient personnel and funding for the scheme.

Supported Decision-Making in Criminal Proceedings: A Sociolegal Empirical Study

This article outlines a project in which supported decision-making (SDM) and broader support to exercise legal capacity were provided to accused persons with cognitive disabilities in the Australian criminal justice system. The program was developed to advance the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in relation to “unfitness to plead” laws. The researchers collaborated with three community legal services in three Australian jurisdictions. Four nonlegal “disability support people” were trained to work with accused persons alongside legal counsel to maximize their participation in the trial process and avoid the need for unfitness to plead determinations under current laws. The article draws on qualitative research conducted in the form of interviews with clients, lawyers, and support persons. The findings provide an evidence base for implementing SDM for persons with disabilities in the criminal justice system. It also helps answer the question of whether unfitness to plead laws should be repealed in pursuit of a “universally accessible” justice system in line with the CRPD.

Pathways to Empowerment and Justice: The Invisible Hurdles Stage II Research and Evaluation Final Report

The Invisible Hurdles project is an integrated justice project of four partner organizations the project leader is the Hume Riverina Community Legal Service (HRCLS) a program of Upper Murray Family Care and this research was funded through them by the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioners grants program. The other three partners in this multidisciplinary and Health Justice Partnership are : Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS) – this is an Aboriginal Community Controlled organization; North East Support and Action for Youth (NESAY) is a leading agency supporting young people and their families in North East Victoria, servicing a vast region of seven municipalities; The Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre (WFLC) – this is a campus of the Wodonga Senior Secondary College - an alternative education center was established in 2014. The project is run in the Hume Riverina region of Victoria and New South Wales focusing on ‘at risk’ young people. Numerous hurdles get in the way of young people receiving legal assistance, particularly where they face disadvantage in other forms such as poverty, family violence, drug or alcohol issues and insecure housing. Research, including from the first iteration of the project shows that young people are reluctant to trust legal professionals and to seek help, relying instead on family and friends’ advice or failing to address their legal problems at all. Pamela Taylor-Barnett (Hon. Lecturer)and Dr Liz Curran (Hon. Assoc Prof.) (in their Honorary capacities (pro bono at ANU) through ANU were commissioned to conduct and produce this Second Stage Research and Evaluation in July 2019 having done the initial study over three years for Stage One which was completed on 14 June 2021 The first report (also on SSRN) recommendations from Stage One led to the further funding of Stage Two (and expanded service project from Stage 1 to include greater focus on community development and systemic work) and they were retained again to build on the longitudinal nature of the research. Findings and conclusions based on the data for this Stage 11 research & evaluation (quantitative and qualitative data collected) include: Over five years of funding from multiple sources, the Invisible Hurdles team has delivered a first-class, fully integrated legal practice despite threats to the end to its funding presented by short term funding from time to time. This uncertainty makes it hard to reassure partners and young people that the service is there for the long haul and to retain staff as was highlighted in Stage 1. The extensions of funding for Stage 2 saw a more consistent staff that enabled traction. Longer term funding certainty should be a priority to ensure the projects significant gains are not lost and momentum continues to build. Such long term 5-8 year funding (with evaluation to ensure and test ongoing effectiveness) should form part of governments’ stated commitments to family violence, regional people, to closing the gap and to breaking the cycle of poverty. The Invisible Hurdles team has made excellent contributions to systemic work by young people. The most important advancement about this work is that some of the young people involved have started to use their voice to self-advocate. The evaluators would like to see this aspect of the project to continue. Collaboration in systemic advocacy that enables multiple voices, varied agency expertise across disciplines and perspective to occur in such partnerships (based on the outcomes of other evaluative studies and in the research literature) is especially rare. The project has the capacity to be an authoritative advocate for the needs of regional youth. There are also some useful findings around service delivery during a pandemic and the critical nature of trust and established relationships to sustain service delivery, flexibility and innovation.

Measuring the Impacts of Representation in Legal Aid and Community Legal Services Settings: Considerations for Canadian Research

There is currently a gap in Canadian empirical research examining the impacts of legal representation in legal aid and clinic settings. This article advocates for addressing the research gap and suggests how such research could be pursued. Empirical data is crucial to making the case for ongoing investments in publicly funded legal assistance and to ensuring the effectiveness of such assistance. Yet current research, mainly from American studies, tends to focus narrowly on litigation outcomes. This leaves many aspects of the impact of legal representation unclear, particularly regarding service delivery for vulnerable and marginalized clients. Research must examine clients’ own experiences and perspectives of legal processes so as to better reflect the complex relationship between legal representation and justice.

Supervision in the Clinic Setting: what we Really Want Students to Learn

This paper focuses on certain key elements of student supervision in Community Legal Services at Western University in London, Canada. Our clinic offers a very broad range of legal services, ranging from criminal law to wills, and consumer law to housing, with 125-150 students taking part in 800-1,000 files per year.The first part of this paper will examine compliance with the supervision requirements of the profession’s governing body. Clinic supervision in a clinic must start with compliance with the regulator. The supervision requirements of the Law Society of Ontario are set out to demonstrate the standards Community Legal Services must meet.This paper will then discuss the classroom component consisting of lectures and simulation exercises where we deal with professional identity, ethical issues, sensitization to the lives of our clients, awareness of the importance of access to justice, and the capacity of legal processes.I will discuss our online materials for the classroom, including our Caseworker Manual which provides guidance in substantive law, court/tribunal rules, and clinic policies and procedures.

Innovations in an Australian Clinical Legal Education Program: Students Making a Difference in Generating Positive Change

This paper will examine why in my view student lawyers who one day soon will be fully-fledged practitioners have a vital role in law reform. It will firstly draw on some of the commentary on the topic and then discuss the program I run at the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service (the legal service) which seeks to actively encourage students to view law reform as their responsibility as lawyers in the community. I should state that the approach of the law reform projects of the clinic I will discuss are still a “work in progress” as we are constantly refining and developing the process to heighten its effectiveness on those who make the laws and administer the laws which impact upon the community.

Multi-disciplinary practice in a community law environment: new models for clinical legal education

<p>The Monash-Oakleigh Legal Service (MOLS) is a community legal service auspiced by Monash University, Melbourne Australia, and partly funded by Victoria Legal Aid. MOLS was principally established to provide practical legal education to Monash law students over 30 years ago, but has since evolved to focus also on serving community legal needs. Incorporated within MOLS is the Family Law Assistance Program (FLAP) which, as the name suggests, deals exclusively with family law matters. FLAP students attend the Family Court each week with lawyers who provide assistance to clients in a duty lawyer capacity, as well as operating four clinical sessions each week within MOLS.</p><p>Like many community legal services, most MOLS clients experience a form of disadvantage and resultant financial difficulty. Consequently, MOLS deals with a range of legal matters including: criminal law, family law, tenancy and neighbourhood disputes, and a number of credit, debt, and<br />bankruptcy issues.</p><p>In July 2010, the Multi-Disciplinary Clinic (MDC) was established at MOLS to provide a holistic service to clients by involving students from three academic disciplines to deal with client issues. Later, in December 2010 (the commencement of the university’s summer semester), students from one other discipline were included in FLAP and a third discipline was also adopted in the following semester.</p>

Forty Years of the Alternative Law Journal

In 1974, the Legal Service Bulletin commenced publication as a voice of Fitzroy Legal Service. It quickly became a voice that went well beyond even the community legal service movement as a whole. I still had two full-time and two part-time years of my Arts/Law degree to go.

Making the Legal System More Responsive to Community: A Report on the Impact of Victorian Community Legal Centre (CLC) Law Reform Initiatives

The research and report are auspiced by the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service (WHCLS) and were privately funded. The Legal Service has a long history of undertaking law reform and community legal education in conjunction with its partner, La Trobe Law through a student Clinical Legal Education Program based at the WHCLS. The aims in undertaking this research are: 1. To document some of the history of legal centre law reform activities in Victoria. 2. To examine the interaction between client experience of the legal system and law reform responses by examining six snapshots of law reform activities undertaken by the community legal service sector in Victoria. 3. To examine the impact and role of law reform and community legal education in improving the justice system and enabling community participation. The six selected snapshots analysed for this report, illustrate the CLCs have a unique role in identifying through their casework, clients’ experiences that are problematic, unfair, costly, inefficient or unjust. CLCs bring these experiences into the view of governments, the public, media and industry and work for the improvement of the justice system so that it is responsive to community need. CLCs are often unpopular for doing this and such a role is not an easy one. Often the issues when first identified and raised by CLCs seemed mundane, uninteresting or incredible. CLCs despite this have kept important issues on the agenda. They have maintained their persistence when matters slipped off the agenda and through their constructive suggestions the laws and their administration have been improved, streamlined and become more responsive to individuals in society.

The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Learning in Clinical Practice for Law, Finance, and Social Work Students: An Australian Experience

In July 2010, the faculties of Law, Business and Economics, and Medicine at Monash University, Australia commenced placing law, finance, and social work students in a multidisciplinary clinic at a community legal service operated by the University. Students from the three disciplines began seeing legal service clients at the same time as a team. Clients who agreed to participate were interviewed by the team of students made up of the three disciplines in order to address client issues holistically. This article canvasses some of the perceived learning benefits of this project for students and their supervisors. It investigates how and why supervision within this clinic is a unique experience for students and supervisors alike. It raises the issues of dealing with the different ethical and professional guidelines of the three disciplines. Ultimately, we conclude that multidisciplinary training may have a wide range of advantages for all parties.

Using Clinical Education to Innovate the Law Curriculum and Address an Unmet Legal Need: A Hong Kong Perspective

The Redmond-Roper Report on Legal Education and Training in Hong Kong, published in 2001, identified problems with the quality of legal education in Hong Kong. Chief amongst those was a shortage of law graduates with the legal skills, sensitivity and ethical understanding necessary to address the diverse legal needs of the local community.In a blueprint for change in Hong Kong’s legal education system, the Faculty of Law at The Chinese University of Hong Kong was established. One key innovation since the law faculty’s inception has been the creation of the “Refugee Assistance Clinic”. In partnership with pioneers in community legal services, the faculty offers law students the opportunity to assist asylum seekers in securing legal representation. Inspired by clinical projects around the world, this programme encourages students to see legal practice as socially situated, to reflect on the nature of the lawyer’s relationship with a client and to evaluate ethical conduct in a practical context.The purpose of this paper will be to set out the early phases of this initiative in bringing students actively into the community and delivering the change to legal education required by Redmond-Roper. It will show how the Refugee Assistance Clinic has furthered the goals of Redmond-Roper and helped to address the unmet legal needs of refugees in Hong Kong.

Integrated Legal Services: Lessons from West Heidelberg CLS

International and Australian research has established links between legal and health need, particularly for people with chronic illness and disability; links between social exclusion and clusters of legal need; and the prevalence of non-legal services as the first port of call for assistance with legal need. These findings provide strong support for integrating the provision of legal services with health and welfare services and for establishing good referral practices between legal services and non-legal community and health services. The studies that establish the link between legal, health and social need suggest that a holistic approach to service delivery between legal, health and other community services could help to meet the needs of people and communities facing significant levels of social exclusion. Within the legal aid and community legal centre sector, those who have worked in integrated services are convinced of the benefits and can easily cite individual examples in support. There is little empirical or qualitative material in Australia to support these observations or detail the key features of this approach to legal service delivery. This article details briefly the findings of a research project that gathered data on the work and practices of the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service (WHCLS) which has been collocated with Banyule Community Health (BCH) for thirty years. It identifies the five key features of integrated legal services and then focuses on the analysis of what facilitates and impedes integrated legal services at WHCLS.

Towards Integrated Legal Service Delivery

International research has revealed links between legal and health needs, particularly for people with chronic illness and disability and the prevalence of non-legal services as the first port of call for assistance with legal problems. These are sound reasons to integrate legal, health and welfare services. However, even though the co-ordination and collocation of legal and non-legal services (particularly for disadvantaged communities) seems a straightforward solution to these research findings, integrating services across sectors, government departments, organisational and professional boundaries is not a simple task. In the context of this research and various Australian policy responses, I explore the desired features of an integrated approach in legal, health and welfare service delivery. I draw on the experience of the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service (WHCLS) which is collocated with Banyule Community Health (BCH) and some other recent innovative legal service delivery options. In conclusion, the current challenges facing those agencies wishing to enter into arrangements to provide integrated legal, health and welfare services are identified.

Towards an integrated service response to the link between legal and health issues

International research that confirms links between health issues and legal needs and the prevalence of non-legal services as the first port of call for assistance with legal problems has reinvigorated interest in providing integrated legal and health services. This article details research that indicates experiencing ‘justiciable events’ (problems for which there is a potential legal remedy) leads to stress, anxiety and deterioration in physical or mental health problems. Health consequences are identified for those that do not obtain appropriate and timely legal assistance. People often experience clusters of legal and non-legal problems that require a range of responses. For those that seek assistance with their justiciable event, most seek this assistance from non-legal sources. Within the legal aid sector, these research findings are considered compelling reasons to integrate legal, health and welfare services. However, the co-ordination and collocation of legal and non-legal services (particularly for disadvantaged communities) is not a straightforward solution. Drawing on the experience of several examples of integrated approaches in legal, health and welfare service delivery including the longstanding arrangements between the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service, which is collocated with Banyule Community Health, a range of challenges facing those agencies wishing to develop relationships to provide integrated legal, health and welfare services are identified.

The Health Cost of Civil‐Law Problems: Further Evidence of Links Between Civil‐Law Problems and Morbidity, and the Consequential Use of Health Services

There is considerable evidence of links between social and health problems. Some of these links involve social problems that can be addressed through civil legal process, and may be described as civil‐law problems. Various initiatives have been implemented around the world to link health and legal advice services to promote better health and justice outcomes. This study examines the links between civil‐law problems and morbidity. It uses new data to replicate an earlier analysis of these links, then builds on this by exploring the extent to which problems are reported to act to bring about ill health. It also details the reported consequent use of health services. We examined survey respondents’ self‐reports of long‐standing illness/disability, use of health services, and experience of 18 types of civil‐law problems. Data were drawn from a random national survey of 5,015 adults living in 3,832 residential households across England and Wales. Having controlled for a range of other social and demographic predictors, we found a significant association between age‐standardized illness/disability and civil‐law problems, one that increases with illness/disability severity. In particular, we found significant associations with 10 of 18 principal problem types. We found that adverse health consequences were reported to have followed over one‐third of problems, and some problem types in particular. This led to significant use of health services. We highlight the contribution that legal services may make to public health. We argue that despite the difficulties faced in England and Wales by initiatives such as Health Action Zones and Community Legal Services Partnerships, and despite the cost‐benefit ratio of legal advice and assistance (in either the justice or health fields) remaining unclear, the more effective coordination of health and legal services is likely to improve both health and justice outcomes.

The Health Cost of Civil Law Problems: Evidence of Links Between Civil Law Problems, Morbidity, and the Consequential Use of Health Services

Study Objective: There is considerable evidence of links between social and health problems. Some of these links involve social problems that can be addressed through civil legal process, and may be described as civil law problems. In the United Kingdom various initiatives have been implemented to link health and legal advice services to promote better health and justice outcomes. This study examines the links between civil law problems and morbidity. It also builds on earlier findings by exploring the extent to which problems act to bring about ill-health, and details the reported consequent use of health services. Design: We examined survey respondents' self-reports of long-standing illness/disability, use of health services and experience of eighteen types of civil law problem. Setting: A random national survey conducted across England and Wales. Participants: 5,015 adults drawn from 3,832 residential households. Main results: Having controlled for a range of other social and demographic predictors, we found a significant association between age-standardised illness/disability and civil law problems; one that increases with illness/disability severity. In particular, we found significant associations with ten of eighteen principal problem types. We found that adverse health consequences were reported to have followed over one-third of problems, and some problem types in particular. This led to significant use of health services. Conclusions: We highlight the contribution that legal services can make to public health. We argue that, despite the difficulties faced by initiatives such as Health Action Zones and Community Legal Services Partnerships, the effective co-ordination of health and legal services is likely to improve both health and justice outcomes.

Social Exclusion and Civil Law: Experience of Civil Justice Problems among Vulnerable Groups

Abstract Combating social exclusion has become a priority target for many governments and was a key factor in the establishment of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) and the Community Legal Service (CLS) in England and Wales in April 2000. This study aims to assess whether socially excluded groups within the general population are more likely to suffer justiciable problems (problems for which there is a potential legal remedy) and whether such groups differ in their problem resolution strategies and advice‐seeking behaviour. We draw upon a large‐scale survey of 5,611 people representative of the population of England and Wales, and a further survey of 197 people in temporary accommodation. Five vulnerable groups are extracted: survey respondents with a long‐term illness or disability, young and elderly respondents, low‐income respondents and those living in temporary accommodation. We identify how some of these vulnerable groups have a high likelihood of experiencing justiciable problems. We also examine advice‐seeking strategies among our vulnerable groups and, where contact was made, which advisers were typically contacted. The findings demonstrate the potentially crucial role of access to justice and advice and legal services in tackling social exclusion.