iGURU!

CAMPAIGN

“You can pass all the well meaning and noble laws you like – but without access to the courts and therefore justice – those laws are meaningless and not worth a farthing.”

— ‘Principles & Maxims Of Justice’

One of the campaigns of ‘Access 2 Justice’ is a very simple one – people can’t afford Lawyers so they’re forced to both research the law and present cases in court themselves. It’s not an ideal situation for anyone to face – but increasingly more and more people in the United Kingdom just can’t afford Lawyers and ‘the state’ is making it increasingly difficult to get financial assistance if you have a legal case and at the same time court fees are sky rocketing, often running into 100’s of pounds and sometimes 1000’s of pounds, for court fees alone – this is before your case has started! What justice is this?

‘Access 2 Justice’ deals with realities – we have to start somewhere. We are developing a number of very simple, easy to understand, but powerful campaigns, around which the people of the United Kingdom can rally around and change the current situation for the better.

One of our campaigns is ‘legal resources’ in our ‘Public Libraries.’ The Public Library is a wonderful community space. Unfortunately, like many other things that were once cherished in the United Kingdom, it too is under attack. Therefore, campaign to support your Public Libraries – support helpful staff who appreciate the importance of the Public Library as both a ‘community resource’ and a wonderful ‘community space.’

Part of this campaign is a ‘legal resources in our Public Libraries campaign.’ Go to your Public Library – ask staff and find out what ‘legal resources’ are available for you, if you had to prepare a case.

The law covers all aspects of everyday life – so just imagine if you had to prepare a case, for example, if you were unfairly treated at work or you had a serious debt problem or housing problem or were facing eviction. Unfortunately, these things are the reality of modern life in the United Kingdom. Ask the library staff for details of books and/or online services available if you had to prepare a case. Sadly, many of us face real cases that we have to fight and so many will have been through this process already.

If the member of staff is unable to provide you with access to ‘legal resources’ i.e. if there is no ‘law collection of books,’ available statutes of the law in the United Kingdom or individual text books dealing with areas of law such as housing, education, benefit rights, etc… Then ask the member of staff how can you get access to such information – as you have a case to prepare.

If they tell you these services are ‘online’ – ask them to show you how you can access them online and ask them to demonstrate to you the availability of these online services and how to use them. Many Public Libraries use this so called ‘provision of online services’ as a cover to not provide anything or anything worth having. So – if you’re told there are online services, let the member of staff show you how to access them and prove their worth. You may find that there are neither ‘law books’ nor ‘online services’ in your Public Library or if they are they are so woeful as to be worthless. Then complain about it to the member of staff (politely) and make a formal complaint using the Public Library’s complaint system.

We make an open offer here at ‘Access 2 Justice’ that we will help anyone (draft emails/letters etc…) pursue a complaint in their Public Library in relation to a library failing to provide ‘legal resources.’

Just remember – ‘legal problems’ – like ‘tripping up on the pavement,’ or any other type of ‘accident’ can happen to anybody. If you take action now and ensure that there are available ‘legal resources’ in your library – it may well be the one thing that will help you in a time of legal crisis.

Don’t get us wrong – we don’t wish ‘legal problems’ on anyone – but the reality of modern life is that at some point in time we will experience a legal crisis. Take action now to preserve and develop the ‘legal resources’ currently in your community – we can then go on to build on that to include training to assist Litigants in court and perhaps even one day develop an affordable legal system where people can have Lawyers (once again – for better or worse) to represent them in court. In the meantime, we regard this campaign as an urgent if temporary solution to an ever increasing problem.

We will provide a draft letter/email that you can send to your Public Library on this issue. To access this draft letter – click the picture icon below:-