About us

‘The ‘Justice Gap’ refers to the increasing section of the public too poor to afford a lawyer and not poor enough to qualify for legal aid. At the heart of any notion of a decent society is not only that we have rights and protections under the law but that we can enforce those rights and rely upon those protections if needed.’
Michael Mansfield QC

‘For those concerned with the law and justice – as well as the difference between the two – www.thejusticegap.com is increasingly essential.’
David Jessel (Rough Justice, Trial & Error)

Who we are

The site is run by Jon Robins (jon@thejusticegap.com; @JusticeGap). Jon is a journalist and has written about the law and justice for the national papers and specialist press for 15 years. Jon launched the www.thejusticegap.com on October 6th 2011.

Jon has written a number of books including The first miscarriage of justice: the amazing & unreported case of Tony Stock (Waterside 2014); The Justice Gap: Whatever happened to legal aid? (Legal Action Group, 2009 – with Steve Hynes) and People Power: how to run a campaign and make a difference in your community (Daily Telegraph/ LawPack, 2008).

Jon is a visiting lecturer at Winchester University where he teaches second and third year journalism students. He is a visiting senior fellow in access to justice at the University of Lincoln and a patron of Hackney Community Law Centre.

Jon won the Bar Council’s legal reporter of the year award in 2015. He previously won the award in 2005.

For more info: www.jonrobins.info

Jon is editor.

Brian Thornton (brian@thejusticegap.com) is a journalist and academic. He is one of the founders of the Crime and Justice Research Centre at the University of Winchester which specialises in issues related to miscarriages of justice. Brian is a former BBC producer who worked on Newsnight. Brian is commissioning editor.

Miranda Grell (miranda@thejusticegap.com) is development officer at Hackney Community Law Centre. Miranda was called to the Bar in 2014 and was awarded the Law Centres Network’s 2014 Reita Clarke Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in recognition of ‘her award winning initiatives, dynamism and creativity, and her commitment to justice for the people of Hackney’. Miranda commissions and helps with business development. She tweets at @MirandaGrell.

Alex Cisneros (alex@thejusticegap.com) is a human rights researcher and barrister. Alex was recently been made an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and has worked around the world, providing legal research to human rights NGOs and parliamentarians. Alex is a commissioning editor and tweets at @AlexCisneros.

Ollie Persey (ollie@thejusticegap.com) is a legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he works on issues concerning criminal justice, international human rights law, and mental health. Ollie is a commissioning editor and tweets as @olliepersey.

Lucie Boase (lucie@thejusticegap.com) is a law student and occasional writer living in Bristol. She intends to work in social welfare law when she qualifies. Lucie is a commissioning editor and tweets at @LucieBoase.

Caterina Franchi is a trainee solicitor at a niche immigration and human rights law firm in North London, currently on secondment at Lewis Nedas Law. She volunteers for the Liberty Advice Line. Caterina is the editor on #Unlocked15, a partnership with Right to Remain and Detention Action. The project is run by Detention Forum.

Web Developer: Thanks very much to Jason French, a third year journalism student at Winchester University for his work on building the new site with Brian.

JusticeGap reporters: Bracken Stockley, Tom Wright, Brooke Perriam and Hattie Waldron – journalism students at Winchester University – work on the JusticeGap as news reporters.

What we are

www.thejusticegap.com is an online magazine about the law and justice aimed at the public. We launched on October 6th 2011.
We are about the law as it relates to you.
We are about journalism and shining a light on those parts of the justice system that don’t often see the light of day in the mainstream media.
We are interested in the broad sweep of the law: human rights, the criminal justice system, family, employment through to consumer issues. In other words, all aspects of the law that relate to you in your day-to-day life.

What we are not

We are not lawyers. The site is run by journalists.
This is not a lawyers’ discussion group. We run articles by lawyers and professionals involved with the law; and we run articles by people who are neither but who have views on the effectiveness or otherwise of our legal system.
We don’t engage in correspondence about individual cases. Any contributions will be run at the editor’s discretion. All comments are moderated.
We don’t claim to have either the right skills or resources to assist people with their individual legal actions. Sorry.
Any information about the law on our site is not a substitute for legal advice (as is explained in our terms and conditions) but it is to illuminate legal issues.

The JusticeGap series

You can read about the Justice Gap series HERE.

Guardian Legal Network

The JusticeGap is part of the Guardian Legal Network which ‘brings together the best blogs and sites that cover legal affairs and developments from around the world. The network connects sites that provide high-quality news, comment, analysis, blogs and multimedia’.

Halsbury legal award

The JusticeGap won the legal journalism category at the inaugural Halsbury Legal Awards – read more HERE. The awards were set up as ‘a celebration of excellence in the law and great contribution to the legal sector’.

Unlocking detention

Unlocking Detention is a partnership with Right to Remain, Detention Action and the Justice Gap. The project is run by Detention Forum, a network of organisations working together to challenge the UK’s use of detention.

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