In my experience, program managers and funders are the only two stakeholders who are not only familiar with the term public legal education and information (PLEI), and who also have integrated the term to their discourse. PLE or PLEI are acronyms used in regulatory documents, public policy and funding agreements between service provider (non-profit organizations) and their public and/or private funders. At the frontline, or among people who provide direct services to the public or program beneficiaries, however, the initial concept of PLE or PLEI is somehow reinterpreted; the concept and the theories that informed it becomes praxis.
In my research, I analyze the praxis of, and philosophies (i.e., ideologies) behind, concepts such as the following one derived from the Federal Department of Justice when it states the purposes of PLE:
“People who come in contact with the system for whatever reason – as an offender, as a victim, as a witness – may not be aware of their obligations or where to get information about their situation. In our justice system, the public is expected to know the law. Knowledge about the law can help people better identify the kind of legal advice or assistance they may require. Public legal information is not intended to replace the services of a lawyer where it is required, but often it is helpful to have information about the law in question, in addition to seeking advice. [And] having access to information about the law and how to access legal and social resources in the community can be especially important to people who are vulnerable because of language barriers, economic reasons, reasons of discrimination, etc.” (Ibid, para 6-10).
Defining PLE is neutral or universal terms is not easy task. Behind a concept there is a philosophical and ontological orientation. The following is one of my earlier attempts to define PLE:
PLEI began as a movement within the law schools of Canada during the mid-1970s and spearheaded by a group of lawyers, educators and librarians. A national scope for PLEI in Canada was created in the 1980s with funding from the Department of Justice for province based PLEI organizations. Patti Pearcey1 (1979, p. 131-132) posits that “in an effort to alleviate the sense of helplessness which assails citizens in their attempts to contend with the law”, public legal education and information programs and services were created. PLEI thus, “help[s] to demystify the law” (Ibid). From the point of view of PLEI providers, the central tenet of public legal education, is that “an informed person can better deal with the complexities of modern life and and informed public can better understand and participate in the evaluation and the formation of law” (Ibid; see also Wurman, 2009, p. 61). Funding reductions of the past two decades require that PLEI be understood for its potential rather than what actually is. The potential of PLEI “lays in the public being engaged with the Canadian legal system as a proactive measure against social injustice” (Wurman, 2009, p. 61).
1In 1972 she co-founded and was Executive Director of British Columbia’s The People’s Law School, one of the several non-profit PLEI organizations formed all over Canada and the USA during that period.