Participation in courts and tribunals : : concepts, realities and aspirations / / edited by Jessica Jacobson and Penny Cooper.

• Superior document: Bristol shorts research
• TeilnehmendeR: Cooper, Penny,; Jacobson, Jessica, 1966-
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol, UK : : Policy Press,, 2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Bristol shorts research.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (x, 186 pages) :; illustrations.
• Notes: Includes index.

This significant study reveals how participation is supported in the courts and tribunals of England and Wales. Including reflections on changes to the justice system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it details the socio-structural, environmental, procedural, cultural and personal factors which constrain it.

Table of Contents

Front Cover -- Participation in Courts and Tribunals: Concepts, Realities and Aspiration -- Copyright information -- Table of contents -- List of Boxes, Figures and Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- ONE Introduction -- Key messages of this volume -- Investigating participation -- Study parameters -- 'Vulnerability' and 'participation' -- 'Participation' in law and legal procedure -- The study -- Notes -- References -- TWO Policy and Practice Supporting Lay Participation -- Approach -- Vulnerability -- Vulnerability in law -- Vulnerability among court users Evolution of special measures -- In the criminal courts -- Evaluating special measures in the criminal courts -- In the Family Court -- In the Employment Tribunal -- In the Immigration and Asylum Chamber -- Guidance for practitioners and judges -- Equality of arms -- Impacts of legal aid reforms -- Court users' experiences of self-representing -- Court reform programme and access to justice -- Remote court attendance -- Online forms and processes -- Court closures -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- THREE Conceptualising Participation -- Introduction Interviews with practitioners: rationale and methodological approach -- What is participation? -- Participation entails: providing and eliciting information -- Participation entails: being informed -- Participation entails: being represented -- Participation entails: being protected -- Participation entails: being managed -- Participation entails: being present -- Why does participation matter? -- Participation is the exercise of legal rights -- Participation enables decision making -- Participation legitimates the judicial process and outcomes Participation provides (potential) therapeutic benefits -- Barriers to and facilitators of participation -- Remote court attendance -- Practitioners as facilitators -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- FOUR Observed Realities of Participation -- Introduction -- Observing court proceedings -- Institutional parameters of participation -- Observed commonalities: stories of conflict, loss and disadvantage -- Conflict -- Loss and disadvantage -- Telling the stories of conflict, loss and disadvantage -- Supporting and facilitating participation -- Responsiveness to vulnerabilities and need Assisting litigants-in-person -- Humanising and sympathetic responses -- Translation and disconnection -- Complexity -- Silencing of court users -- Underlining the disparities -- Disconnection -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- FIVE Looking Ahead -- Introduction -- International review -- Methodology for the literature search -- Witness intermediaries -- Ground rules hearings -- Court 'facility dogs' -- Pre-recording witness testimony in full -- Specialist hearing suites -- Specialist judicial guidance -- Reflections on innovative support for participation.