Alternative Law Journal
Media Release
Volume 28, No. 1, February 2003
Practising Law in the Public Interest
The Tampa Case in 2001 provides a stark example of
lawyers advocating on behalf of a group of powerless people by challenging
the use by government of its power. Aside from helping those particular
individuals, these lawyers were also practising law in the 'public
interest'.
This February issue of the Alternative Law Journal examines
this idea of 'public interest law'.
Is it, as Penny Martin argues, "fundamentally
different to legal work performed pro bono" because it raises
issues of broader public concern or that impact on a disadvantaged
or marginalised group?
In contrast, Jill Anderson and Gordon Renouf
argue that providing access to legal services for individuals
who have a low income or are otherwise disadvantaged is in the public
interest even if only an individual benefit results.
Samantha Burchell and Emma Hunt focus
on the Public Law Interest Clearing House (Vic) and suggest that PILCH
in its ten years has moved from "conservatism to activism"
in encouraging lawyers to take up public interest work and become
more activist in their practice.
Two articles focus on legal education as critical to
the process of educating lawyers to practise law in the public interest.
Six Griffith University law students, Jenni Clark, Louise Formosa,
Paula Rogers, Ben Cochrane, Kate Fitzgerald and Craig Pratt describe
their placement with a public interest organisation where they were
confronted with the reality that "the legal system cannot solve
all the community's problems and that other avenues may be needed
for social change". Judith Dickson challenges law schools to
recognise the relationship between law and justice and to integrate
that theme into their teaching.
Roselyn Melville also reports on her study of
volunteers in NSW community legal centres indicating serious concern
over the impact of competitive tendering. Darren Palmer examines
police pursuits and argues for change in "police policy, practice
and attitudes and their interaction".
Also in this issue: a number of lawyers
from across the spectrum of legal practice give their personal views
on what 'practising law in the public interest' means to them.
