PRO BONO WEEK 3rd - 7th November 2025 part 1

Peace Partners trustee secretary Katherine Russell considers potential beneficial collaborations between charities and legal professionals volunteering on a ‘Pro Bono’ basis, and her view that where statutory obstacles or ignorance play a part in preventing access to everyday basic needs, effective support is essential to alleviate both the unmet needs and the stresses involved in their remediation.

The article is in two parts. The first part is below, look out for the second part in the New Year!

PART 1

A week of activities where like minded individuals can meet and discuss the efforts being made to bring legal services to people in need, free of charge.

Since the abolition of Legal Aid, which was essentially replaced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012), the legal framework has shifted due to a lack of money which strangulated the resources once available to the public, who were previously served by the criminal and civil justice system through state aided funding. The harsh removal of state help for criminal and civil matters has in turn impacted the charity/voluntary sector with an ever increasing influx of requests for help in securing the financial means to afford the right to justice.

Precursors to LASPO 2012, were changes in legislation which proved impactful to the way everyday people would thereafter receive access to justice. Significantly, the Access to Justice Act 1999 and the Legal Aid (Abolition) Order 2001, exemplified the lack of government funding that was being made available to the legal industry therefore leaving service providers with no choice but to withdraw from publicly funded work. 2001 also saw the very first National Pro Bono week.

Pro Bono Week is a yearly review of the Pro Bono system in England and Wales with contributions by participants from the frontline of the justice system. Key to the discussion is the status of the system today coupled with predictions for the future. 

Your writer attended two conferences this year, one virtually and the second in person. Both had speakers from Pro Bono groups and charities. There is an obvious incline towards the legal perspective, but over the years, the point of view of charities has become prevalent and representatives from organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and First Love Foundation are two examples of speakers heard at this year’s event. 

Charities cannot offer legal services but they have a vital role to play in the redirection of people who need help. Indeed, with the lack of public confidence shown towards the justice system, the need to utilise charities as communicators in the first instance, will bridge the disconnect between service provider and service user and ultimately restore confidence in the justice system as a service for all rather than a few.  

Law students are advised to do Pro Bono early in their careers. However, the strain upon the service would suggest that attracting established legal professionals is essential because the public do not deserve to be offered unqualified assistance for their legal matters. The risk of doing so is erroneous and would bring Pro Bono into disrepute.

Pro Bono lawyers have the potential to be valuable assets to charities if they are encouraged to become trustees. A legal trustee on the board, can bring legal issues to the agenda to which legal actions and resolutions are then communicated to the public via publicity.

Pro Bono is about legal professionals offering their skills rather than their specialism, crucially, working Pro Bono means working for nothing and also being required to work on  cases from all areas of the law. This flexibility allows an open door to people with all sorts of legal problems who may not have enough money to pay.

Charities help people to access services that they might not be able to afford. Charities access legal services offered to them Pro Bono. Rather than these two amenities of public interest fostering a commercial relationship, is it possible that charities and Pro Bono groups can co-exist, with the people they help being their shared objective?  

KR.

Katherine will address this in Part 2