Where do you see the law in 25 years’ time?

In 1997, The Open University Law School launched the UK's first distance taught law degree in partnership with the College of Law.

As part of our 25th anniversary reflections, we asked our Law School students and staff 'Where do you see the law in 25 years?'. The first post in this series is from Liz Hardie, senior lecturer in Law.

I recently met with some of our Associate Lecturers and asked them this question (many thanks April, Monika and Brian for the interesting discussion). We considered the impact of technology and generative artificial intelligence on the law, its regulation and the need to recognise the importance of the knowledge and skills humans bring to the practice of law. We discussed how law is made: it is likely in the next 25 years that our constitution will continue to develop and change, particularly in relation to devolution and law making in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In 25 years’ time will there still be a union, or different legal systems in the different nations? I suspect there will be further divergence of our laws, if not some form of more formal separation.

We also discussed the practice of law including the current difficulties in the court system, with huge delays in the listing of court hearings in both criminal and civil cases and the impact that can have upon parties, witnesses and victims. In the next 25 years will there have been reform, such as greater funding, simplification of processes and more use of technology and online hearings? Or will the court system have collapsed and / or be the preserve of the rich and wealthy? Legal practice is also likely to change due to the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, as the academic training for solicitors and barristers starts to diverge. In the last 25 years the different legal professions had begun to become more similar, with direct access to barristers and the granting of rights of higher audience to solicitors. However the difference in academic, professional and vocational training between the two branches of the profession may lead to a growing distance between the two.

Finally our wide ranging and stimulating discussion considered the role of democracy and rule of law within the UK and internationally. Over the last 25 years there have been questions raised concerning the role of the courts, human rights and government prerogative. Internationally there has been challenges to international and humanitarian laws across numerous continents and conflict zones. Is there a risk that our much prized democracy and rule of law will become weakened in the next 25 years?

When the OU law degree began in 1998, the focus of our law modules was on the subjects which were compulsory for the legal profession (known as the foundations of legal knowledge). Many of our courses had a more practical professional approach, teaching students how to understand and apply the law to practical scenarios. As we developed and increased the number of law modules available to students, some modules focused on more socio-legal concerns, analysing the role of law within society. This tension between law as an academic social science and as a preparation for professional practice has existed since the first undergraduate law degrees started. 

The new OU law degree introduced in 2021 aims to teach students how the law applies to individuals, but also the implications of the law for society. Reflecting the social justice mission of the OU and the Law School, it encourages students to identify where the law fails to provide equality, justice and fairness for all. In this way the degree is relevant for those seeking an academic intellectually stimulating degree and those wanting to go into the legal profession. There is also an overarching theme across all modules of understanding the impact of technology on the law so that students are prepared for the digital nature of the employment they will face in the future. Different pathways at level three offer students the opportunity to prepare for their chosen career with modules focused on the training for barristers, for solicitors and for those seeking an academic law degree.

Over the last four years I have been working with our law students on policy and law reform work through the Open Justice Centre. This offers students the opportunity to research an area of law or practice for either a not-for-profit organisation or a Law Commission project. Students analyse the law and the data they have collected to produce recommendations for reform. The different skills required for this work, including enhanced research, analytical and communication skills, develops students to think outside the traditional legal mindset. Students have to articulate the values lying behind alternative proposals and provide evidenced reasons for the approach they have taken. Exposing students to key policy debates in an area of the law and equipping them to assess and make recommendations for change develops the skills needed to respond to changes in the law. Baroness Hale of Richmond, former President of the Supreme Court, credits her time with the Law Commission as preparing her for her role as Supreme Court judge:

Law reform teaches you to think more broadly about what is wrong with the current law, how it might be improved and how to translate those improvements into workable legislation.”¹

A number of the projects conducted by students have been in areas of law which have subsequently been the subject of proposals for reform. In 20-21 a group of students undertook a project researching the cost of civil weddings, concluding that there were unjustified differences in costs of civil registry office weddings across the country. In 2022 the Law Commission proposed reforms to the law relating to where and how couples can get married, to provide simpler, more affordable and personalised weddings. In 21-22 a policy clinic project, run jointly with Northumbria University, proposed reforms to the law on renting property to tenants with pets, including the introduction of pet insurance. This was one of the proposals in the Renters Reform Bill 2023 introduced into Parliament in May 2023, to make it easier for tenants to keep pets. In 21-22 one of the policy clinic projects (again run jointly with Northumbria University) researched the impact of COVID-19 and the move to online court hearings on the public’s access to court hearing. Their research and findings were submitted to the government’s open consultation ‘Open Justice: the Way Forward’ in May 2023.

Liz Hardie

Liz is a senior lecturer of the Open University Law School. She has worked as part of the Open Justice Centre since 2016, supporting law students to carry out voluntary legal projects both as part of their law degree and on an extra curricular basis.  She is particularly interested in online learning and the use of technology in legal education. She has advised the Law Society on various aspects of legal education including online education and diversity within the legal profession.