PILC at Module 10 ‘Impact on Society’ of the Covid-19 Inquiry

Allison Munroe KC (Garden Court Chambers) & Melissa Kizito (PILC) at the preliminary hearing. 

PILC are representing four Core Participant groups in Module 10 of the Covid-19 Inquiry, scrutinising the pandemic’s impact on society. Preliminary hearings began on 18 February, but key decisions are still to be made regarding the module.  

The final module of the Inquiry, module 10 will cover the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on wider society, having already heard modules relating to vaccines (module 4), the NHS (module 3) and political decision making (module 2). Ongoing modules include module 6, focusing on the care sector, in which we are instructed by the Frontline Migrant Health and Care Workers’ Group. 

PILC have been instructed by four Core Participant groups: The Justice Sector Coalition (JSC), Migrant Rights Consortium (MRC), The Prison and Immigration Detention Advocacy Group (PIDAG) and the Domestic Abuse Group (DA Group). There is of course significant overlap in the interests of PILC’s clients. A constituent member of the Justice Sector coalition, for example, is the Association of Lawyers for Children, a professional association of legal aid lawyers focusing on representing children in the family courts. Their insights into the domestic abuse will compliment those of the DA Group.   

PILC Solicitor Joe Latimer has said,  

As we all know, the pandemic struck after years of austerity had already brought the justice system to breaking point. You often need a legal aid adviser at times of crisis, but there are now swathes of the country with “advice deserts” after legal aid cuts cratered the sector. Module 10 is a unique opportunity to highlight the vital work the sector provides and why the resilience of the justice system is everyone’s concern. 

Allison Munroe KC (Garden Court Chambers) was appointed counsel by the JSC – you can hear her opening submissions here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpI00O9lrnA&t=499s

More about the JSC 

The JSC will be considering, among other things, access to justice for vulnerable people to enforce their rights through legal processes. Racialised, working-class and disabled people, as well as asylum seekers and migrants are over-represented in the justice system. It is therefore vital to understand how judicial and legal processes, in combination with the pandemic and consequent restrictions, together impacted the well-being and mental health of those affected. They also hope to interrogate the impact of categorisation of ‘key workers’ in the justice sector and ask, how did vital services which provide people with access to justice continue and at what cost?

It is made up of the following organisations:  

Association of Lawyers for Children (ALC)  

Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA)  

Housing Law Practitioners Association (HLPA)  

Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)  

Law Centres Network (LCN)  

Legal Action Group (LAG)  

Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group (LAPG)  

London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA)  

_________________________________

Other core participants’ submissions, as well as counsel to the Inquiry’s introduction: 

• Videos are here and here 

• Transcript is here 

More about the MRC

The MRC have noted the striking omission from the inquiry, that in the roundtables proposed there is no such event to address the impact of the pandemic on migrant people - including those within the immigration and asylum system. They have requested that the Inquiry reconsider this in order that evidence can be heard from migrants in this setting. Moreover, given diverse membership and extensive expertise they have rightly said they should have more than one witness statement. They want the Inquiry to hear the impact on migrants over medical/healthcare outreach; labour exploitation and precarious employment practices; those without recourse to public funds; those within the immigration and asylum system; those who are undocumented; and migrant children.  

The MRC is made up of the following organisations: 

JCWI 
Medact 
DOTW UK 
UVW 
IWGB 
Kanlungan 
Together with Migrant Children 
Project 17 
JustRight Scotland 

More about the PIDAG

PIDAG will be asking the inquiry to consider prisoners contact with their families; how releases were managed – or not due to lack of accommodation; the Home Office’s approach taken to immigration bail during the pandemic; the impact of the pandemic upon prisoners’ and immigration detainees’ daily ‘regime’, and the resultant impact upon prisoners; the effect of the pandemic on staff expectations, institutional culture, prison officer recruitment, and access to healthcare in prisons; public health and mental health issues specific to detention/imprisonment; impact on access to ‘progression’ and the consequent effect upon prisoners’ welfare.  

PIDAG is made up of the following organisations: 

Bail for Immigration Detainees 
Medical Justice 
Prison Reform Trust 
Howard League 

More about the DA Group

The DA Group we will be asking the inquiry to consider key workers in the domestic abuse sector;  safeguarding and support for victims/survivors of domestic abuse; Those within the immigration and asylum system; Those affected by the operation of the civil (family) and criminal justice system; The access to housing and homelessness services; The effect of the pandemic and lockdown on children victim/survivors of domestic abuse. 

The Domestic Abuse Group made up of the following organisations: 

Southall Black Sisters (SBS),  
Solace Women’s Aid (SWA)  
Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)