As the Open Justice Centre approaches its third anniversary, the 2019 Annual Report provides an opportunity to review the progress of the Centre since its inception in 2016.

The Centre’s development has benefitted greatly from the support of The Open University's Law and Business Schools, the Vice Chancellor’s Executive and from the generosity of external partners who have provided invaluable advice, guidance and encouragement.

Our prison project made front page of the July edition of the HMP High Down Prisoner Newsletter called “High Down Low Down”

The Wigan Observer covered our prison radio project in their recent July 30th issue.

Wigan Post published an article online and in the newspaper on the 19th and the 21st August.

The Law School’s Open Justice Centre has joined forces with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to help deliver its Education for Justice (E4J) initiative.

Law students have been working with prison learners to record a series of radio programmes tackling legal issues, for broadcast on prison radio.

The pioneering project by the Open Justice Centre has just finished its second iteration at HMP Altcourse – a Category B men's private prison in Merseyside – and is expected to roll out to other prisons soon.

The Open Justice Centre’s Law Clinic, which offers free online legal advice led by the OU students supervised by qualified solicitors, won the Best Legal Tech Contribution in the Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards.

First-class Law graduate CJ Burge was in prison when she earned her degree from The Open University. She now works for the St Giles Trust which collaborates with the Law School’s Open Justice Centre on prison education, as well as being a trustee of the Criminal Justice Alliance.

The Open Justice Centre’s Law Clinic has been shortlisted in the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2019. This is in the ‘Best LegalTech Contribution’ for the awards which recognise and celebrate the outstanding pro bono work undertaken by law schools and law students across the UK.

The Law School, which has fewer academics than any other school, has won two of the eight OU Teaching Awards (OUTAs) 2019. Both winners, the Open Justice Centre and Stephanie Pywell, have also been nominated by the OU for awards from the recently-formed Advance HE.

Amid the current Brexit debate and a century on from the infamous Battle of George Square in Glasgow, the rights of workers is definitely still a hot topic.

Free advice on employment law is available from the OU Law School’s Open Justice Centre from the start of February as its pro bono law clinic continues to expand.