Research Database

Measuring Online Legal Resources: A Framework Inspired by the Drake Equation

This report explores an evaluation framework to try to assess whether online legal aid tools and resources make a different in addressing gaps in access to justice. The researchers used the “Drake Equation”, originally created in 1951 to list the factors that scientists should consider when determining whether there was extraterrestrial life. Through a series […]

Digital Delivery of Legal Services to People on Low Incomes – Half year update December 2017

This report provides an update about developments in digital delivery of legal services in British Columbia, Ontario, England, Wales, the US, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands. It discusses some of the issues digital delivery of public legal education and information (PLE) raises for governments, funders, providers and users. It builds upon findings in earlier […]

HiiL Justice Accelerator Impact Report 2012-2016

This report contains an evaluation of the “Innovating Justice Awards” program set up in 2012 by a Dutch justice organization to promote innovations by entrepreneurs in several European and African jurisdictions. overview of the impact that has been achieved through the Innovating Justice Awards since 2011. It shares project stories from Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and […]

Apples and Oranges: An International Comparison of the Public’s Experience of Justiciable Problems and the Methodological Issues Affecting Comparative Study

This report compares large-scale national surveys of the public’s experience of legal problems, noting that many of them differ significantly in length, scope, types of problems included, question formulation, and data structure and analysis. It also presents findings from five online experiments that tested the impact of various question formulations on problem prevalence, use of […]

Shepparton sessions for newly arrived communities: Evaluation report June 2011

This report contains an evaluation of a public legal education and information (PLEI) project conducted in Australia. The PLEI project targeted newcomers to Australia from the Congolese, Burundi, Sudanese, Afghanistan and Iraq communities. Topics for the trainings included consumer issues, driving regulations, living in Australia, family law issues, and employment and work. The trainers used […]

An evaluation of the Clicklaw Wikibook “JP Boyd on Family Law”: Phase 1 Final Report

This report presents the findings of the Institute’s evaluation of the wikibook JP Boyd on Family Law, a free and comprehensive public legal education and information (PLE) resource published by Courthouse Libraries BC. Users of the wikibook were asked to complete a pop-up survey and to engage in a follow up survey by email. Researchers […]

Community legal education and information at Legal Aid NSW: activities, costs and future planning

This Australian report presents findings from the first stage of a three-stage review of public legal education and information (PLE) activities conducted by Legal Aid NSW, and discusses strategic directions relevant to PLE practitioners more broadly. The first stage of the review involved a desktop audit of face to face PLE, the distribution of paper […]

Extending the Reach of Legal Aid: Report on the Pilot Phase of the Legal Health Check-Up Project

This report evaluates the pilot phase of a “legal health check-up” project spearheaded by a community legal clinic in Southwestern Ontario and a consulting community organizer.

The outcomes of community legal education: a systematic review

This paper reports on a systematic review of research into the effectiveness of face-to-face public legal education and information (PLE). Because of limited research into the effectiveness of PLE, the paper also canvasses comparisons from the literacy on the effectiveness of health education.

Access to Justice Metrics: A Discussion Paper

This paper discusses barriers to improved access to justice including the lack of a common vocabulary about access to justice and tools to measure change. The authors define“access to justice metrics” and then outline other organizations’ approaches to access to justice metrics, with details on five international initiatives. The paper emphasizes the importance of incorporating […]