Open Justice Awards 2024

Each year, The Open Justice Centre celebrates the exceptional achievements of our high calibre students. Our annual awards are given to individual students or groups of students that make outstanding contributions to the projects they are involved in. Students are nominated by their tutors or project managers. 

Outstanding individual contribution to Open Justice (Iain Service Award) | Stephen Cross, Amy Beck

Stephen Cross was the winner of the ‘Iain Service Outstanding Individual Contribution’ award, with Amy Beck as runner-up. 

Stephen Cross – Individual winner

Stephen took part in the Open Justice Law Reform Clinic which started in 23-24 to give students the opportunity to carry out research into an area of law being considered by the Law Commission and to make recommendations for reform.

Tutor Liz Hardie who nominated Stephen for the award said:

Stephen faced some challenges within his group and made the decision to focus on writing his own report on the issue of contempt of court. The report was excellent, which was extremely impressive particularly as he was working alone and had to deliver the report within a shorter period of time.  The quality of the report meant that it was selected to be sent to the Law Commission.

Liz Hardie
Tutor

Amy Beck  – Individual winner runner up

Amy took part in the Employment Law Clinic which offers students an opportunity to engage with real-world business and employment law issues under the supervision of experienced academic and legal professionals. Students work with free advice organisations to provide legal information to people facing employment issues and draft resources to support small businesses.

Amy was nominated by her tutor Martin Jones who said:

Amy demonstrated high levels of professionalism and effective leadership throughout the Employment Law project. Amy chaired meetings efficiently, provided clear support to her fellow students, had a clear focus on the final products being produced and provided effective direction and support to ensure that these were completed to a high standard. The quality of the products prepared is testament to the leadership Amy demonstrated.

Martin Jones 
Tutor

Outstanding team contribution to Open Justice | Daniel Davis, Lucy Wilson, Omose Agboaye, Graham Hewitt, Natalie Rushton, Celeste Blaize-Gibson, Christian Alexander Pitt

The ‘Outstanding team contribution to Open Justice’ saw a group of seven win in this year’s awards for their work on the Policy Law Clinic. During their time in the policy clinic students gain experience of carrying out legal policy work for a charitable or third sector organisation. Students work on a brief provided by an organisation and carry out empirical research to produce analysis and recommendations, which can be used by the organisation to influence their policy work.

The team were nominated by both their Tutor Avril Martin and the Project Manager Debbie Legge who said:

The students did a study for Youth Link Scotland on current youth work provision, exploring what this might look like and focusing on whether the Scottish Parliament should introduce a right for all young people to access quality youth work provision. They attended a conference by Youth Link Scotland, designed a survey and then analysed the results well, making great use of different forms of presentation. The report they wrote for Youth Link Scotland hardly needed any changes and Youth Link Scotland said, “thanks to you and all the students for the diligent work, I can see a lot has gone into this.

Debbie Legge 
Project Manager

This was a wonderful proactive group who worked hard on the project, buzzing with enthusiasm and ideas. They collaborated well dividing up tasks according to individual strengths often pairing into sub teams to carry out a survey, create a literature review or draft interview questions for example. This team really supported, motivated and listened to each other. They were thorough in their extensive research and provided a detailed helpful report for the client charity. It was a pleasure to work with such a stimulating, professional and lovely team who have done the Open Justice Centre proud.

Avril Martin 
Tutor

Group member Daniel Davis said .

My participation in the Open Justice activities have been one of the most transformative experiences of my academic journey. It not only enhanced my understanding of the law but also gave me profound insight into the practical, human impact of legal work. This realisation has deeply influenced both my future academic and career aspirations. My involvement in the youthwork project in Scotland, which focused on providing legal assistance to vulnerable groups aged from 12 years of age, was especially impactful. Working within this team allowed me to see firsthand how critical lawyers can be in ensuring access to justice for all, regardless of financial means or social standing. As I move forward, I do so with a clearer sense of purpose: to use my skills to serve, empower, and advocate for those who need it most. moment.

Daniel Davis
Group Member

Group member Omose Agboaye (pictured)  said:

The Open Justice policy clinic was by far one of the most interesting modules to partake in during my studies. I gained a deep understanding of the merits and challenges of working with colleagues in a Pro-Bono context. If you let yourself dive in there is a first-rate experience to be had in real policy research & writing. The emphasis on critical reflection I am finding is exceedingly useful just months into my career after graduating.

Omose Agboaye

Outstanding team contribution to Open Justice runners up 

The runner up group this year were five students nominated for the outstanding work they produced for the Family Law project. The Family Law Clinic gives students an understanding of family law and the experience of putting their academic knowledge into practice. The group worked on a project for LawWorks, a charity committed to enabling access to justice through free legal advice.

LawWorks asked the Family Law Clinic to research and write standard answers to a variety of common family law legal queries, which they will keep as a template to respond to queries. The answers needed to cover both the law and any practical advice needed.

Outstanding team contribution to Open Justice runners up | (Family Law Clinic): Noah de Hoogh, Jennifer Edwards, Kris Johansson, Lauren Streeter, Zishan Zaman

Tutor Liz Hardie, who supervised their work said .

This group were exceptional in the way they worked together and supported each other in the family law clinic. They worked on three questions for the LawWorks organisation and were keen to receive a fourth or to carry on working into the summer.

Liz Hardie
Tutor