WLG | impact '24: PLMJ Promotes Legal Literacy Among Children
PLMJ 'goes back to school': promoting legal literacy among children
Promoting legal literacy and access to justice is one of the four dimensions of PLMJ's social impact. Alongside pro bono legal services, volunteering and philanthropy, it is one of our key guiding principles in the social impact initiatives we seek to develop each year, both internally and externally. As part of this, we have launched a number of initiatives with partner organisations and other public bodies with the aim of making our greatest asset, our knowledge, available to society. And what better place to start than with the youngest members?
One of our flagship projects is to take our expertise into schools. Specifically, to 9- and 10-year-old students, explaining important legal concepts in a informative and easy-to-understand way so that they can develop their legal literacy through participation in two PLMJ projects.
From teaching them about our legislative process, to showing them how the courts work, to promoting the rights of animals and the environment, the aim is to instil these concepts in children from an early age.
What was the process like?
For the fourth consecutive year, more than 100 students from across the north and south of the country welcomed PLMJ's teams from our offices in Lisbon, Porto and Faro to introduce them to legal questions such as 'what is a court', 'what does a lawyer do' or 'how does a law get passed'in an innovative and educational way. Schools were selected based on diversity, inclusion and social mobility to reach students from all backgrounds.
So how do you get the message across beyond the legal jargon? Well, that was the challenge faced by more than 40 lawyers who worked their way through the schools we visited between 2023 and 2024. From trainee to partner, with legal departments ranging from TMT to dispute resolution, the idea was to simplify concepts by using everyday examples and adapting them for 9- and 10-year-olds.
To do this, PLMJ lawyers used educational games, sketches and other materials during their many visits to classrooms. In their discussions with the teachers, our lawyers adapted the tone and responded creatively to the younger children's questions, actively involving them in the process of the two projects we led.
"Justice Among Us”
Our first project, 'Justice Among Us', focused on the justice system. Over the course of a month, the aim was to explain to the youngest children how the courts work, and the typical players involved in the process, such as judges, prosecutors and lawyers. Our teams used topics such as bullying and discrimination, not only to promote legal literacy but also to raise awareness of these realities. At the end there was a mock trial in which the two classes participated in a very hands-on and entertaining way.
"Let's make the law”
The second project, entitled 'Let's make the law', focused on legislative power, through which we sought to illustrate the need for societies to be governed by rules through the process of drafting and passing laws.
From discussion to voting, approval and publication of the law, we explained to each classroom how the legislative process works. In the first phase, we introduced the actors and the legislative procedures, and in the second phase we guided the students in drafting their 'laws', so that at the end they could hold a meeting to vote and approve (or reject) the laws they had drafted.
In all three cities, the projects culminated in a simulated legislative session in which the students' draft laws were voted on and passed, on topics of their choice and from their perspective, ranging from the establishment of a single system to regulate the use of mobile devices in schools, to the right to have access to healthy and diverse food, to the defence and protection of the entire marine environment, to the protection of forests.
In Lisbon, we partnered with the Diário da República (Portuguese Republic Diary) Unit of the Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, and the final session was held in the Imprensa Nacional library, ending with the publication of the legislation in the Diário da República.
"It's more than just storytelling": final impact assessment
Our teams are extremely positive about the experience, saying that while engaging with students can be challenging, "it's very rewarding". The opportunity to share an experience they don't always have with people outside the legal profession, let alone children, can certainly be a lot of fun. "Having to convince them that what we do is interesting was the most amusing aspect", says one of our trainees who took part in the projects.
You also have to keep an open mind, says one of our managing associates. "During one of the visits we asked what happens when someone has committed a crime and the answer was simple: they go to prison, right? And one girl said she already knew because she had an uncle in prison. And we were absolutely stunned, because all of a sudden we're faced with a child who knows about the visitation system, or we have cases of students who have already been to court as part of the parental responsibility system, in relation to divorce," she explains.
The school heads and teachers involved also believe that the project has added value, by helping to develop students' critical thinking and argumentation skills. 'The project has been very enriching and inspiring for our students in that, through discussion and dramatization, it has given them an awareness of the importance of law and justice, as well as knowledge of the organs of sovereignty and their powers. This has led to a greater awareness of the importance of being citizens who play an active role in society'.
The contact with this reality and the realisation that these students actually understood certain concepts better than expected deepened the interactions and the teams became (even more) committed to responsibility and empathy.