My experience of the Model Law Commission 2016, by Andrew Wolckenhaar
The Model Law Commission is yet another fantastic project run by Big Voice London which I have been fortunate enough to take part in. It was a three month project which involved us analysing the current law and creating our own Law Commission style report which was presented at a launch event at Parliament.
During the three month period, four different groups were created, each focusing on a different area of the law, these being Family Law, Commercial Law, Criminal Law and Public Law. Each of these areas offered a completely new and different perspective on the law in a way that none of us on the project had properly explored before. My group, Public Law, focused on the vast issue of
environmental concerns and how solutions to pressing problems can be found through changes in
legislation.
At the start of our research during the first few weeks we were lucky enough to hear from experts in their field including journalists, environmentalists and economists. All the speakers greatly improved our knowledge on the intricacies of environmental issues and challenged our initial perspective on how to tackle these problems. During these sessions we as a group brainstormed our ideas with the help of ‘Group Leaders’ who were undergraduates and postgraduates studying law that were kind enough to give us their time every week throughout the project. They provided excellent leadership and gave us the confidence to research, write and present our reports.
The report writing was a great opportunity to get down our final ideas into a document we could take pride in. Throughout December we split our group into different sections that focused on the four issues we had identified that needed changing; these included improving air quality through a system of clear air regions, improving education, retraining workers and creating an environmental court. Each of these represented a diverse and interesting solution to some of the issues that plague the UK’s environment, both now and in the future. When we all came together to write our conclusion we were amazed at the depth that each sub group had researched into for their particular field and we all definitely became more knowledgeable on issues regarding the environment, giving us the confidence we needed for our presentation in Parliament.
Backed by our report, my group, and every group for that matter, met the challenge of public
speaking successfully. All the reports were put across in a clear and confident manner and it was
particularly interesting to see what the other groups had created for their reports. Each were
incredibly well written and informative, really getting to the crux of the issues we were tasked with
solving. The feedback received from the experts at the presentation really validated our efforts and
we truly did take pride in our final reports.
The project was another amazing opportunity offered by Big Voice London. As a
previous participant in other Big Voice London projects, I can honestly say that the experience
presented to me changed my perspective on the law and proved that with a bit of confidence and a
lot of effort, a career in law is accessible to anyone.
Big Voice London is now taking applications for our "Introduction to the Legal System" project in association with the UK Supreme Court and our Summer School in association with Linklaters. To apply, please send an email to info@bigvoicelondon.com to request an application form.
