What is public legal education?

Public legal education (PLE) is the name used to sum up a range of activities and initiatives that aim to improve people’s lives and empower communities. Better legal know-how helps prevent problems, gets people to act early to stop problems escalating and assists people to manage the issues that do come up, including knowing when to get advice.

Plenet has published a new leaflet explaining what PLE is, and how it works. It outlines the benefits of PLE and has Q&As on some of the more thorny issues.

Read our leaflet on Public Legal Education : Improving lives, empowering communities (141 KB)

How does PLE work ?

Public legal education works on a number of fronts:

It raises awareness of rights and legal issues and teaches people to anticipate and prevent problems.

It gives people knowledge and understanding about common legal issues.

It equips people with the confidence and skills they need to solve problems and get the best result they can.

It helps people to recognise when they need support and know where to get it.

It helps people to get organised for legal and social change.

Why is PLE important ?

'Public legal education is vital in providing access to justice by making people aware of their rights and responsibilities.

'Knowledge about the law can change lives, improve life chances and enable active participation in democracy.

'Public legal education can be a powerful agent of change in the interests of the millions of people.

'It can also increase public confidence the rule of law and create safe and cohesive communities.'

Lord Hunt
Justice Minister July 2007

A healthy democracy needs citizens with an understanding of the law and who have a practical knowledge about how to defend and uphold rights. Greater legal confidence helps to build a more stable society leading to improved social and economic well-being. Public legal education has a pivotal role to play in making this happen.

PLE helps people with the problems of everyday life such as debt, benefits, consumer rights, housing, divorce, redundancy and discrimination etc. These issues can have a massive impact on people’s lives. Research shows that many people with a problem worry about it most of the time, not knowing what to do or where to go for help. Many people do nothing and things get even worse.

Often, the people who are hit the hardest are those who already experience some disadvantage, for example, people with disabilities, literacy problems, the homeless and older people. By building skills and confidence PLE can help people to access services, get better homes and jobs and believe in themselves and their future.

PLE develops legal capability by improving the skills needed to anticipate and avoid problems. PLE is more than just imparting knowledge about the law, it is also about improving skills, self confidence and determination.

PLE in Practice

'Thank you. If I knew all that last year I would have made a claim for compensation. You’ve been a huge help, I feel much more confident dealing with harassment and discrimination. Knowledge is power!'

'Most inner city children see law as an area they can never gain access to and this scheme has started to change that perception.'

'If you don’t know your rights you don’t really know where you stand. You helped me prepare for my benefits interview and feel a little more confident.'

Quotes from participants in PLE Projects

Public legal education complements legal and advice services, in the same way that public health campaigns and information go hand in hand with the advice and treatment you get from your doctor. It also has links to both education and community development.

PLE projects come in all shapes and sizes – classroom teaching, theatre productions, TV programmes, information packs, training courses, mentoring schemes, campaigns, websites, and many other activities. Many organisations have been doing PLE projects for a long time. Most initiatives are small-scale and local, although there are a number of larger, nationwide projects

Illustrations of different types of PLE projects can be found on our website. For example, there is information about a 'Living Together Campaign' which challenges the myths surrounding common-law marriage and provides co-habiting couples with the information they need to safeguard their interests. There are projects designed specifically to meet children and young people's needs - Streetlaw Plus, for example, organises events and presentations in schools, and the Financial Services Authority has funded a financial capability for young people website and training programme.

In reality, most people don't have much interest in the law: until they need it. To make the project relevant, the best PLE initiatives will display an understanding of the needs of their particular audience and focus on specific problems.

Projects aim to build up people's skills and confidence - their capability to deal with problems. The importance of PLE projects is that they not only improve the capability of people to deal with a specific problem, but build up the skills and confidence needed to deal with any future conflict or dispute.

Recent UK developments

‘Public legal education provides people with awareness, knowledge and understanding of rights and legal issues, together with the confidence and skills they need to deal with disputes and gain access to justice.

'Equally important, it helps people recognise when they may need support, what sort of advice is available, and how to go about getting it. Public legal education has a further key role in helping citizens to better understand everyday life issues, making better decisions and anticipating and avoiding problems.’

Task Force definition of public legal education 2007

Public legal education work is less developed in the UK than in other countries, although there have been some exceptions. For example, Law Centres incorporate PLE activities into their model for providing community-led legal services.

Following a consultation in 2004 on how best to improve PLE, a Public Legal Education and Support Task Force (PLEAS Task Force) was set up January 2006. Chaired by Professor Dame Hazel Genn, the Task Force met for a year and debated and investigated the issues around PLE.

The Task Force launched their report, 'Developing Capable Citizens: The role of Public Legal Education' at a conference in July 2007. It made the case for increasing the availability of public legal education, developing good practice, improving evaluation, and longer-term funding.

PLEAS Task Force report - Developing capable citizens: The role of public legal education (172 KB)

More about PLEAS Task Force

PLE Network (PLENET) has held two conferences (in 2009 and 2010) on legal empowerment illustrating growing support for PLE. Details of these and other conferences can be found in Events.

PLE Leaflet

Read our leaflet Public Legal Education:Improving lives, empowering communities (141 KB)

If you would like to order free copies of our leaflet, please get in touch using the comment form below. Please give your name and full postal address and say how many copies you would like.