Dr Jo Wilding
@jowilding.bsky.social
Legal aid geek, researcher and associate professor at Sussex University, author of 'The Legal Aid Market' (Policy Press), lawyer, mum, athletics obsessive, ex clown.
Excellent blog post explaining what Wicked: For Good tells us about what's wrong with the new asylum proposals in the UK, by my colleague Nuno Ferreira at @sussex.ac.uk lawpoliticsandsociology.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/w...
Wicked indeed for good: the latest UK asylum policy proposals
[This post is by Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law at Sussex). This piece is republished with permission from the Refugee Law Initiative’s RLI Blog on Refugee Law and Forced Migration.] By Nuno…
lawpoliticsandsociology.wordpress.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Excellent blog post explaining what Wicked: For Good tells us about what's wrong with the new asylum proposals in the UK, by my colleague Nuno Ferreira at @sussex.ac.uk lawpoliticsandsociology.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/w...
What happens when you start with a hostile asylum system that sets people up to fail and then persistently degrade the legal aid system people depend on to accompany them through it, to put together the evidence in the framework of the law.
November 23, 2025 at 10:24 AM
What happens when you start with a hostile asylum system that sets people up to fail and then persistently degrade the legal aid system people depend on to accompany them through it, to put together the evidence in the framework of the law.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Today we’re proud to launch Rights of Women’s 50th Anniversary Report - a powerful reflection on legal change over the past decade.
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
50th Anniversary Report - Rights of Women
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Today we’re proud to launch Rights of Women’s 50th Anniversary Report - a powerful reflection on legal change over the past decade.
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Excellent blog and important argument by the brilliant Central England Law Centre @ce-lawcentre.bsky.social and Liz Curran on the problem of the poorest people being charged fees they can't afford for the evidence to (somewhat) ease their poverty.
GPs charging for medical evidence letters is creating a hidden barrier for people in poverty.
@ce-lawcentre.bsky.social's Emma Bates and Dr Liz Curran discuss this recent phenomenon, which is blocking access to benefits, housing and safety. 👇
@ce-lawcentre.bsky.social's Emma Bates and Dr Liz Curran discuss this recent phenomenon, which is blocking access to benefits, housing and safety. 👇
Expert blog: The hidden cost of GP letters - why medical evidence fees deepen justice inequality
Legal aid experts explore the impact of fees for medical evidence letters on the most vulnerable in society.
www.ntu.ac.uk
November 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Excellent blog and important argument by the brilliant Central England Law Centre @ce-lawcentre.bsky.social and Liz Curran on the problem of the poorest people being charged fees they can't afford for the evidence to (somewhat) ease their poverty.
Fascinating post by my brilliant colleague.
My latest post analyses the potential criminal liability in the UK of AI companies in light of the August report from Anthropic that its generative AI tool Claude has been used by hackers to commit cybercrimes. TL;DR: s3A CMA is a problem. open.substack.com/pub/issuesin...
New Hacking Tools: AI and Criminal Liability
Are AI companies breaking UK law by offering tools which help hackers commit cybercrime offences?
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Fascinating post by my brilliant colleague.
Exciting conference in Spain next September on the role of truth and evidence in regional human rights adjudication. dissect.ugent.be/events/inter...
Abstracts by 22 December.
Abstracts by 22 December.
International conference – DISSECT
dissect.ugent.be
October 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Exciting conference in Spain next September on the role of truth and evidence in regional human rights adjudication. dissect.ugent.be/events/inter...
Abstracts by 22 December.
Abstracts by 22 December.
My article is featured on the front page of Laws journal (and it's free to read). It is of course about legal aid, and also about how that interacted with asylum policy in the 2022-24 period.
October 19, 2025 at 12:27 PM
My article is featured on the front page of Laws journal (and it's free to read). It is of course about legal aid, and also about how that interacted with asylum policy in the 2022-24 period.
Love the cover photo and good to see it finally in print! Chapter 18 is mine: Undocumented- Insecure Immigration Status and its Impact on Children and Young People. The book contains a huge range of contributions incl one on Palestinian youth under occupation, written before the genocide started.
October 5, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Love the cover photo and good to see it finally in print! Chapter 18 is mine: Undocumented- Insecure Immigration Status and its Impact on Children and Young People. The book contains a huge range of contributions incl one on Palestinian youth under occupation, written before the genocide started.
My new research report with @wearelapg.bsky.social shows legal aid practitioners spend a quarter of their working day, on average, on non-chargeable tasks essential to the running of their legal aid cases or contract: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...
Legal aid lawyers spend quarter of day on unpaid work
Landmark research reveals hidden and non-chargeable cost of managing cases and contracts.
www.lawgazette.co.uk
September 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
My new research report with @wearelapg.bsky.social shows legal aid practitioners spend a quarter of their working day, on average, on non-chargeable tasks essential to the running of their legal aid cases or contract: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...
Yes, exactly that. If the auditing system caught those (very occasional but serious) cases like this and Blavo (that the contracting and payment systems perversely incentivise) then the micromanagement might be justifiable, but this shows what a counterproductive waste of money it is.
September 16, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Yes, exactly that. If the auditing system caught those (very occasional but serious) cases like this and Blavo (that the contracting and payment systems perversely incentivise) then the micromanagement might be justifiable, but this shows what a counterproductive waste of money it is.
work bcs of the stress of audits which ignore quality. Current system drives out quality and misses apparent exploitation.
September 15, 2025 at 11:24 AM
work bcs of the stress of audits which ignore quality. Current system drives out quality and misses apparent exploitation.
thousands of people's life & death cases potentially messed up. What was the Legal Aid Agency doing? No apparent oversight, yet a charity doing good quality work had ALL its payment recouped because a caseworker's VALID DBS certificate was at home not in the office-and now does v little legal aid
September 15, 2025 at 11:24 AM
thousands of people's life & death cases potentially messed up. What was the Legal Aid Agency doing? No apparent oversight, yet a charity doing good quality work had ALL its payment recouped because a caseworker's VALID DBS certificate was at home not in the office-and now does v little legal aid
This firm actually only had 2 people accredited to do asylum legal aid work, and set up 7 new offices doing asylum cases (for a total of 8). They closed 2,580 cases in one year, which is clearly impossible if those 2 people are actually doing the work. Contract now withdrawn, but only after
Immigration law firm making £1.7m in legal aid loses contract over standards
Thousands of asylum seekers left without lawyers after firm took on thousands of cases with just five solicitors
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This firm actually only had 2 people accredited to do asylum legal aid work, and set up 7 new offices doing asylum cases (for a total of 8). They closed 2,580 cases in one year, which is clearly impossible if those 2 people are actually doing the work. Contract now withdrawn, but only after
'We don't have the luxury of despair. The global bargain around sanctuary and the global commitment to sharing responsibility are being undermined.' 122 million ppl displaced by conflict, 2/3 stay in neighbouring countries. We have to raise voices for sanctuary:Vicky Tennant of UNHCR, at EARC conf.
September 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM
'We don't have the luxury of despair. The global bargain around sanctuary and the global commitment to sharing responsibility are being undermined.' 122 million ppl displaced by conflict, 2/3 stay in neighbouring countries. We have to raise voices for sanctuary:Vicky Tennant of UNHCR, at EARC conf.
200K Hong Kongers arrived in UK on safe legal routes and most people barely noticed. A tiny number arrive on small boats and things melt down. Safe legal routes not the whole answer but an important part. EARC Eastern Arc Sanctuary Solidarities conference.
September 10, 2025 at 9:47 AM
200K Hong Kongers arrived in UK on safe legal routes and most people barely noticed. A tiny number arrive on small boats and things melt down. Safe legal routes not the whole answer but an important part. EARC Eastern Arc Sanctuary Solidarities conference.
New article just published- 'The Shifting Sands of Legal Aid Deserts: Access to Justice for Asylum in 2022–24', in a special issue of Laws on refugee protection, edited by the brilliant @raawiyah.bsky.social @apowelllaw.bsky.social and Ruvi Ziegler. Free to read: www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14...
www.mdpi.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:46 PM
New article just published- 'The Shifting Sands of Legal Aid Deserts: Access to Justice for Asylum in 2022–24', in a special issue of Laws on refugee protection, edited by the brilliant @raawiyah.bsky.social @apowelllaw.bsky.social and Ruvi Ziegler. Free to read: www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14...
Here's an idea. Instead we could pay proper fees to proper lawyers and caseworkers to do a proper job in (maybe going too far now) a properly functioning system.
August 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Here's an idea. Instead we could pay proper fees to proper lawyers and caseworkers to do a proper job in (maybe going too far now) a properly functioning system.
Does frankly appalling job, putting v vulnerable people at huge risk. Either closes or is closed down-not clear which. Now thousands of people with cases already messed up, no hope of new rep given overall dire shortage, serious risk of injustice to them. Public money wasted on predictable disaster.
August 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Does frankly appalling job, putting v vulnerable people at huge risk. Either closes or is closed down-not clear which. Now thousands of people with cases already messed up, no hope of new rep given overall dire shortage, serious risk of injustice to them. Public money wasted on predictable disaster.
Here's (part of) the problem with treating legal aid as a market. One firm bids (successfully) for contracts in immigration law in several advice desert areas. Begins taking on 2,797 cases in year to 31 March 2025, so it no longer looks like a provision shortage in those areas. (No newer data yet).
August 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Here's (part of) the problem with treating legal aid as a market. One firm bids (successfully) for contracts in immigration law in several advice desert areas. Begins taking on 2,797 cases in year to 31 March 2025, so it no longer looks like a provision shortage in those areas. (No newer data yet).
Exactly. We supported a woman who had a shrapnel injury from childhood and limited mobility, who was hospitalised after she fell down a badly lit stairwell in an asylum hotel when her room was on a higher floor but asylum seekers were not allowed to use the lifts!!
August 19, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Exactly. We supported a woman who had a shrapnel injury from childhood and limited mobility, who was hospitalised after she fell down a badly lit stairwell in an asylum hotel when her room was on a higher floor but asylum seekers were not allowed to use the lifts!!
Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.
‘It’s about justice’: the couple pushing for legal aid for Windrush scandal claims
Home Office behaviour has convinced Hetticia and Vanderbilt McIntosh that only experts lawyers can change system
www.theguardian.com
August 7, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
Sign the Petition
Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable
www.change.org
July 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
The article is based on research by me, JUSTICE and Dechert LLP which you can find at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
You can still sign the petition for funded legal representation here - www.change.org/p/fund-free-...
You can still sign the petition for funded legal representation here - www.change.org/p/fund-free-...
People need legal help: The value of legal representation in the Windrush Compensation Scheme
Survivors of the Home Office Windrush Scandal are receiving drastically less compensation than they deserve. Giving them access to free legal advice can change this, finds this JUSTICE report.
justice.org.uk
July 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The article is based on research by me, JUSTICE and Dechert LLP which you can find at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
You can still sign the petition for funded legal representation here - www.change.org/p/fund-free-...
You can still sign the petition for funded legal representation here - www.change.org/p/fund-free-...
Also today - My new article for the Conversation on why funded legal representation is absolutely necessary for the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and other redress schemes for state harms.
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
July 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Also today - My new article for the Conversation on why funded legal representation is absolutely necessary for the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and other redress schemes for state harms.
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
We analysed application data from four rounds of Access to Justice Foundation funding, comprising 560 applications from 350 organisations over a 17-month period to build a picture of the advice sector - part of the ESRC-funded Social Welfare and Immigration Legal Aid Mapping (SWILAmap) project.
July 30, 2025 at 4:13 PM
We analysed application data from four rounds of Access to Justice Foundation funding, comprising 560 applications from 350 organisations over a 17-month period to build a picture of the advice sector - part of the ESRC-funded Social Welfare and Immigration Legal Aid Mapping (SWILAmap) project.