General Election 2019: #3Pledges4Justice

With the General Election taking place on 12 December 2019, we need to put justice on the election agenda. With this in mind, we are launching a new campaign: #3Pledges4Justice

#3Pledges4Justice 

We are asking all Parliamentary candidates to support 3 key pledges for a fairer justice system: 

1. Make legal aid available to ordinary people. The means test for civil legal aid excludes at least 70% of the population from effective access to justice. This cannot be fair. We call on the next government to reform the means test to ensure more people who cannot afford to pay for legal advice and representation are eligible for legal aid.

2. Bring back legal aid for social welfare law.  Legal aid was removed in 2012 from crucial areas of social welfare law, such as debt, housing, welfare benefits, immigration and family law. This was done in the name of austerity, but all the evidence shows that early legal advice stops people’s problems escalating and saves taxpayer money overall. We call on the next government to repeal the 2012 legislation (Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offences Act) and restore legal aid for social welfare law.

3. Pay legal aid lawyers fairly for the vital work they do. Lawyers providing vital legal aid services to our society have had no change in their hourly rate of pay for over 25 years (not even for inflation). We call on the next government to pay them fairly to ensure that future generations of legal aid lawyers will be  available to help keep people safe and protect their rights.

We need you to contact your Parliamentary candidates to get them to support our #3Pledges4Justice.

Find out who your Parliamentary candidates are here

Tweet your Parliamentary candidates 

Most Parliamentary candidates are active on Twitter. We know from our #TakeYourMPToWork campaign that politicians respond to requests from constituents on Twitter. Please contact your Parliamentary candidates now!
[template Tweet]: “Hi @xxx do you support @YLALawyers’ #3Pledges4Justice? If so, please Tweet your support.”
 

Email your Parliamentary candidates 

Please contact your Parliamentary candidates using our template email. Their email addresses are (usually) on their campaign websites which show up on a quick google. If you get a positive response, please forward us the email

Spread the word

We need as many people as possible to contact their Parliamentary candidates to support #3Pledges4Justice. Please share this page with your friends and colleagues and on social media. 

Let’s put justice on the agenda!