Beyond great expectations: designing relevant, realistic and effective community legal education and information

This report outlines the limits of public legal education and information (PLE) strategies and stresses that PLE should not necessarily be seen as a stand-alone tool to achieve legal empowerment or as a fully effective way to help people prevent legal problems. The author argues that it is vital to consider how PLE strategies "dovetail" with or support more intensive legal help in order to make sure that the full range of client groups, including vulnerable groups, are best served and able to achieve access to justice. The report discusses three broad types of PLE: self-help materials, basic information and referral materials for clients ("PLE to get help") and basic information and referral material for intermediaries ("PLE to give help").