The Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) was formed by a group of specialist prison lawyers to represent the interests and views of practitioners in prison law. The APL was formed in 2008 at a time when the very existence of prison lawyers was under threat from the LSC (now the Legal Aid Agency (LLA)) funding proposals. We provided a voice during the funding consultation process which lead to the current prison law contract and continue to liaise with the LAA. We have also built strong ties with the Parole Board and Ministry of Justice, regularly attending meetings to highlight concerns on behalf of our membership.
We are not a prisoners’ rights group and links to excellent organisations carrying out that work can be found via our links here.
The APL is focused on assisting its membership to provide the best possible service to their clients. Member participation is actively encouraged through the members area on our website which includes a forum for the sharing of views, questions and information. We arrange regular training courses which are aimed at addressing areas that have been highlighted through our website aimed at increasing the skill base of our membership.
The Association is purely and simply a prison law practitioners’ group representing the professional interests of those actively engaged in supervised prison law work funded by the LAA as the principal client organisation.