There is no straight path to the restoration of justice. Justice takes a different image according to the situation people are placed in and to other factors like their character, their personal experiences and their feelings. As you can observe, all of the aforementioned are subjective ideas and this provokes the speculation; is justice also a subjective idea? Or does the presence and existence of laws make justice an objective, straight- forward concept? These thoughts started troubling my mind when a close family friend was condemned for forgery and sent to prison for ten months. The reasoning for the man’s imprisonment might firstly appear to be logical, causing one to ask ‘what’s the big deal with that?’ and proceed to the thought that he deserved his punishment since he had committed a ‘crime’. However, in my view, when looking at a case we should not think shallowly and try to investigate other factors which might transform this small story into a more complex one. It is here that the subjective angle to the story which leads one to the thought that justice has not only to do with law, but with other factors as well, and this in my opinion should not be abandoned. These factors can lead to fairer decisions, or at least let justice be applied on an integrated basis.

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With a backdrop of the 21st century and the decade gone by, this essay suggests how my conception and experience of legal education has the tools to enable students to contribute to the society. There are two basic conceptions of law that I would divide legal education into. The first is regarding the potent tools that lawyers are given- a basic understanding of the black letter law, its validity and the concepts of rule of law and power equations. The second lens would be focussed on the ‘unsaid’ skills that legal education provides. In this part, the impact of a multi-disciplinary approach of law would be discussed. I will argue that legal education has the ability to produce more tolerant and open-minded societies.

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The Kent Law School (KLS) at Medway continues to bolster its student offerings and encourage student development through the development of extracurricular activities, the latest of these being the establishment of a Negotiation Programme.

The Negotiation Programme is aimed at teaching students the skill of resolving disputes with other parties as less formal, pre-action measure. Negotiation in the context of legal disputes has become a crucial component of the law for law students, both in understanding the use and application of legal doctrines and also in practice. The importance of acquiring an understanding of the skill of negotiation is valued by the KLS and valued as a “life skull that is crucial to legal education.”

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Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, KG PC QC FBA one of Britain’s most senior jurists as former Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord died on 11th September 2010 at the age of seventy six in London at his home. Lord Bingham who was described by the Kent Law School as “one of the most important judicial figures of the last 50 years” took silk and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1972 after working at the Department of Employment. He was then subsequently appointed as a Recorder, Justice of the High Court in the Queen’s Bench Division, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and then Senior Law Lord.

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As a first year student it has been really difficult trying to obtain any legal work experience. After sending what felt like hundreds of CV’s & covering letters to no avail, I became of the opinion that nobody really wants first year law students; the demand is for second year’s so that training contracts could be secured. There are very few work experience options available to first year students over the long summer break: either simply do nothing, write several letters in the hope that something will arise, or find work elsewhere. I was fortunate enough to obtain work experience with a barrister for four weeks, and experience with a charity based company for six weeks.

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