Family Law Solicitor, Simon Brown, was invited to speak to students at last weekend’s Model Law Commission 2020, organised by Big Voice London. Simon had published an article entitled ‘Vaccinations: A legal view’ which prompted the organisers to invite him to speak as an authority on the subject, with the 2020 conference focused on Transgender rights, police powers, vaccines, and law and technology.
Phyllida Spackman, Group Leader at Big Voice London thanked Simon by saying:
“Your talk was very interesting and informative. The students hugely gained from it and you sparked a discussion which lasted over an hour. I myself gained from learning about the welfare checklist. In fact, when asked to say one thing they had learned on the weekend, I thought you would be pleased to hear that one student said: “the talk from Simon really grounded what we learnt over the weekend…”
The Model Law Commission is an annual event and is unique to Big Voice London. It is a three-month long project which involves the students mirroring the work of the Law Commission. It culminates in an event in Parliament and attracts an audience of around one hundred people from the legal profession and politics, all of whom hear the student’s views on the future of our law and democracy. The Law Commission supports this event, by assisting the students in the drafting of their reports. Lexis Nexis also supports the event by generously publishing copies of the students’ Law Commission reports.
Big Voice London is a youth charity supported by, but independent from, the UK Supreme Court. Their aims are two fold: They seek to empower young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, predominantly aged 16-18, through knowledge of the law and legal policy. They believe these young people have rights that they deserve to understand and opinions that deserve to be heard, and as such are given an opportunity to develop and express them. They also believe that these young people should have access to the legal profession as a career. Through the opportunities they provide to the students, they aim to enable them to explore the law as a potential vocation, as such increasing diversity within the solicitor profession and the Bar. These are achieved by running projects and activities such as Judgment Writing Competitions, Mooting Competitions and the country’s only Model Law Commission in which the students investigate four areas of law for legal reform, draft legislation and publish a report, which is launched at an event in Parliament.
Jessica Aviss, Group Leader at Big Voice London added her thanks:
“Thank you all for giving up your time this weekend to speak to the students, and answer their questions about the law in relation to vaccinations and the ethical considerations involved in public health policy and decision-making. I think we all learnt a lot from your talks, us group leaders included!
I would like to thank our fantastic speakers who kindly gave up their time on the weekend, and who each sparked a very live and stimulating debate. We have already had a very fruitful discussion in which the group engaged in some comparative legal analysis by considering the law in other jurisdictions, such as the US, Italy and New Zealand. I look forward to the discussions to follow.”
Over the coming months, the students will be mirroring the work of the Law Commission by investigating the law on vaccination in the UK and putting forward reform proposals in a final report to be published by Lexis Nexis. The students will then be presenting the report at the final event on 17 December 2020 on Zoom.
To discuss any legal issues concerning vaccinations or any other family legal matter, please contact Simon Brown on 01892 526344 or email enquiries@berryandlamberts.co.uk.
For further information on all our Family Law services, please click here.
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