Developing collaboration and innovation in immigration advice provision

我的博士研究考察了寻求庇护者和其他有人权主张的人如何在英国移民体系中穿行。我特别感兴趣的是，建议在调解国家和个人之间的关系中所起的作用，在一个系统的背景下，移民建议受到高度监管，移民法异常复杂（法律委员会2020年），在过去十年中，获得法律援助的机会大大减少（辛格和韦伯2010年；梅勒和伍德豪斯2013年；约克2013年）。当紧缩政策话语和敌对的移民政治对那些没有合法公民身份的人以及那些无力支付与移民申请有关的私人法律咨询费用的人产生深远影响时，关于谁有责任获得司法救助的想法与国家在其中的角色之间的关系非常重要。该奖学金对我来说是一个机会，可以开展研究，为司法政策提供有关法律援助“咨询沙漠”增长的影响（Burridge and Gill 2017; Wilding 2019），原因是公共资助的法律服务退出。在我的博士学位中，我发现，如果个人无法获得法律援助，就会加剧他们面临的风险。作为我博士研究的一部分，我在埃克塞特大学法学院共同建立了一个临床法律教育项目，该项目通过“特殊案例资助”计划帮助个人申请法律援助。ECF计划在法律从业者和非营利部门中一直是法律援助改革中一个特别有争议的部分（York 2013; Amnesty International 2016）。该诊所的目的是通过协助个人申请移民案件以获得公共资金，从而促进更多的人获得法律援助制度。我的博士研究是与两个合作伙伴组织（德文郡难民支持和公法项目）开发的合作项目。通过我的研究，我寻求在实践干预的同时发展学术知识，该奖学金将有助于在埃克塞特大学和外部组织之间发展这些伙伴关系。通过继续发展我在这一领域的研究，我希望围绕大学法律诊所的工作和他们在英国工作的不断变化的动态建立一个更大的研究项目（Drummond和McKeever 2015），考虑到在移民咨询中使用技术。我们有机会向在司法创新方面处于领先地位的海外机构学习并交流知识，但也需要注意这些计划是如何置于围绕诉诸司法的意义的往往不同类型的思想和辩论之中的。例如，美国在提供法律咨询方面有着独特的历史，关于大学在向社区提供服务和促进诉诸司法方面应该发挥的作用也存在争论（Rhode 2009）。我的工作重点是考虑英国的大学法律诊所如何发展自己的公益项目和学生教育机会，同时认识到自己在塑造围绕对英国国家的理解而流动的强大话语方面的作用，以及谁对司法系统的运作负责。该奖学金将使我能够通过出版物巩固我的博士研究的影响，主要目标有两个：为人文地理学和法学学科的学术知识发展做出贡献；并且，确保我的研究结果可用于政策咨询，并可用于法律和慈善部门的其他形式的政策干预（例如，政策倡导和诉讼）。它还将使我能够发展我的研究轨迹，与在司法系统中使用技术的辩论和使用法律创新来开发提供咨询的新模式有关。

My PhD research examines how asylum seekers and other people with human rights claims navigate the British immigration system. I am particularly interested in the role that advice plays in mediating the relationship between the state and individuals, in the context of a system where immigration advice is highly regulated and immigration law is exceptionally complex (Law Commission 2020) and access to legal aid has been significantly reduced over the past decade (Singh and Webber 2010; Meyler and Woodhouse 2013; York 2013). The relationship between ideas about who has responsibility for access to justice, and the role of the state within this, is important at a time when policy discourses of austerity and hostile immigration politics have a profound impact on those without legal citizenship and who are unable to afford to pay for private legal advice in relation to their immigration applications.The fellowship is an opportunity for me to develop research to inform justice policy around the impact of the growth of legal aid 'advice deserts' (Burridge and Gill 2017; Wilding 2019) due to the withdrawal of publicly funded legal services. In my PhD, I found that where individuals are unable to access legal aid it can compound and intensify the risks that they face. As part of my PhD research I co-established a clinical legal education project within the University of Exeter Law School, which assists individuals with applications for legal aid through the 'Exceptional Case Funding' scheme. The ECF scheme has been a particularly controversial part of legal aid reform among legal practitioners and the not-for-profit sector (York 2013; Amnesty International 2016). The aim of the clinic is to facilitate greater access to the legal aid system by assisting individuals with applications to secure public funding for their immigration cases. My PhD research was a collaborative project that developed with two partner organisations (Refugee Support Devon and Public Law Project). Through my research I seek to develop academic knowledge alongside practical interventions, and the fellowship will assist in developing these partnerships between the University of Exeter and external organisations. By continuing to develop my research in this area I hope to build a larger research project around the work of university law clinics and the changing dynamics of their work in the UK (Drummond and McKeever 2015), considering the use of technology in immigration advice. There is an opportunity to learn from overseas institutions that are leading in justice innovation, and to exchange knowledge, but attention also needs to be paid to how these schemes are situated within often different types of ideas and debates around the meaning of access to justice. For example, the US has a distinct history of legal advice provision, where debates also exist about the role that universities should play in providing services to the community and facilitating access to justice (Rhode 2009). A priority for my work is considering how university law clinics in the UK can develop their pro bono programmes and opportunities for student education while recognising their own role in shaping the powerful discourses that flow around understandings of the British state and who takes responsibility for the operation of justice systems. The fellowship will allow me to consolidate the impact of my PhD research through publications, with two primary objectives: to contribute to the development of academic knowledge across the disciplines of human geography and law; and, to ensure that my findings are available for use in policy consultation and to the legal and charitable sectors for other forms of policy intervention (for example, policy advocacy and litigation). It will also allow me to develop the trajectory of my research in relation to debates over the use of technology in the justice system and the use of legal innovation to develop new models of advice provision.