I like to think that LAG’s roots started in protest – back in 1971, when over 70 lawyers congregated in a small office in London, all united in their concern for the perilous state of legal aid – they wanted to do something about it, they wanted something to change. They held a meeting; since then there have been many protests about the evisceration of legal aid and the right to justice, but now the very right to protest is being threatened.

A year ago, barrister Paul Powlesland was approached by police outside parliament, after the Queen’s death, for holding up a blank sign (on which he was intending to write ‘Not My King’). On 19 September, it was announced that Trudi Warner, a 68-year-old retired social worker who stood outside the Inner London Crown Court at the trial of climate protesters, will be prosecuted for contempt of court. She had held up a sign reading: ‘Jurors: you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.’ She, along with others, were protesting as Judge Silas Reid imposed restrictions on defendants on trial for actions against climate change – preventing them from mentioning climate change, insulation, fuel poverty and their motivation for their actions in their defence.

As part of LAG’s new series on Rough Justice, we will host an event on the erosion of our right to protest with Matt Foot, criminal defence solicitor and co-director of APPEAL, and Morag Livingstone, journalist, discussing their book Charged: How the Police Try to Suppress Protest. If the book is anything to go by (I reviewed it in February 2023 Legal Action 12), it will be an interesting and lively evening and one you can sign up to attend here.

Over the next year, LAG will be running a series of talks on miscarriages of justice, including the Andy Malkinson case, the Birmingham Four case, the scandalous lack of compensation for victims of miscarriages of justice, sentences of imprisonment for public protection (indeterminate sentences), and joint enterprise cases. The events will be free and will be advertised on our website.

Talking of websites, we are very excited to announce that LAG has a new website at last. We have listened to what you have told us and have been working hard behind the scenes to make the change needed. One of the new sections we are working on is ‘Jobs and Careers’. We especially want to create this space to encourage young lawyers to get involved in social justice issues and we will have an interactive forum to exchange views and information. The website is a work in progress, so please take a look and tell us what you think at: lag@lag.org.uk.

We are also thrilled that the new Migrant Support Handbook, by barristers Shu Shin Luh and Connor Johnston, will be published next month. It feels a very timely book, and much needed, in this continued hostile environment for both migrants and their lawyers. As of June 2023, there were a record number of 117,450 people in receipt of asylum support1How many people do we grant protection to?, Home Office, 24 August 2023. – facing years in often unsuitable and unsafe accommodation on barges, military bases and detention centres. As the authors wrote their chapters, they were also involved in the vital cases challenging these hostile policies and practices. The book is an incredible achievement and will be an absolutely necessary tool in your practice.

Finally, we have been listening to what you need from LAG, through our questionnaires and focus groups, and the results of our surveys and our plans for the future will be revealed next month.

Everything we do, though, flows from LAG’s mission: