Legal Services Research Centre
The Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) is the independent research division of the Legal Services Commission. It was set up in 1996 to inform legal aid policy and the implementation of reform. It has a broad remit to conduct strategic research in civil and criminal justice, and related social policy fields.
Over recent years, the LSRC has made a critical contribution to the development of the Legal Services Commission’s functions, and has influenced all main aspects of the delivery of legal aid – from civil and criminal contracting, to means testing, to the development of outreach and integrated service models. The LSRC also monitors the impact of legal aid reform on the diversity of the legal aid supplier base and regularly contributes to the Legal Services Commission’s Regulatory Impact Assessments.
The LSRC conducts quantitative and qualitative empirical research, along with theoretical analysis of the political, social and philosophical underpinnings of publicly funded legal services.
The LSRC also organises a bi-annual conference, the next to be held from the 12th-14th of September, 2012 at Magdalen College, Oxford, England. The 9th LSRC conference 'Rights and Wrongs: Developments in Access to Justice' seeks to explore new directions in access to justice and the delivery of legal services from jurisdictions around the world.
The conference will provide a platform for the interchange of ideas between researchers and policy makers from across the globe, working in access to justice and related social science and social policy fields.
