A Ladder of Legal Participation for Tribunal Users

Abstract

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Destitution and Paths to Justice

“…Consistent with the research literature on legal outcomes (Tyler, 2010;Moorhead et al, 2008;McKeever, 2013), perceptions of the quality of advice and legal support received could be strongly influenced by the outcome of the interviewee's legal or financial problem: the better the outcome, the more likely the individual would rate the service highly. An EEA migrant, who had received advice from several sources, was a typical example: "If I had to count with the money which I got, then the best would be the council, because together the refund was like £600."…”

“…Making a claim for a social security benefit is often a complex process with fine lines dividing claims that are eligible and ineligible. Where self-assessment is required for a benefit, this is usually via a lengthy claim form, itself a potential barrier for those who see form-filling as "a mountain for me to climb" (McKeever, 2013). Given that the legislative criteria for entitlement are often complex and confusing, their translation into a selfassessment mechanism is difficult and may not be successful in capturing the information required to make a full assessment (Genn and Thomas, 2013).…”

“…Research on tribunals has identified that the appellant's lack of understanding of the original decision remains a significant factor in making an appeal (McKeever, 2013). This represents a demand-failure in the social security system that transfers the problem to the administrative justice system, where individuals without meritorious cases appeal because they do not understand the basis for their unsuccessful claim or subsequent appeal.…”

“…Where claims are unsuccessful, advice on the right of appeal and signposting to advice services that have the capacity to assist would also help unsuccessful applicants make informed decisions about whether to challenge the decision (SSAC, 2016;Work and Pensions Committee, 2018). Information on success rates and the role of expert advice in increasing the likelihood of success has further potential to alert applicants to the possible gains of challenging adverse decisions (McKeever, 2013;Cowan et al, 2017). Given the high success rate of appeals against sanctions, particularly under Universal Credit (Webster, 2018), the DWP should consider implementing a policy of automatically referring claimants to an independent, free-phone advice line when sanctions are applied, similar to that offered by DfC in Northern Ireland.…”

Online Courts and Private and Public Aspects of Open Justice: Enhancing Access to Court or Violating the Right to Privacy?

“…This is mainly prompted by a lack of guidance for the LIPs in an adversarial setting. Hence, LIPs have difficulty understanding the norms of the court which blocks their effective participation in such a setting (McKeever, 2013). Moreover, their lack of cooperation and [in]ability to assist the courts leads to further delays (McKeever, 2013).…”