Public Right to Justice

A USA-based company is eligible to apply, but bidders based outside of the UK will need to be aware of any tax implications linked to contracting with an organisation in the UK and factor this into their costings. We would remind bidders that we are seeking expert knowledge of the English and Welsh justice system, and this will need to be demonstrated in any bid.

We would contract with any formal legal entity, whether that’s a self-employed person, academic institution or a research agency/consultancy. We welcome applications from individual legal entities or consortia, including a group of self-employed academics.

Tenderers are invited to propose whatever methods they deem appropriate to meet the specification as stated in the Invitation-to-tender (ITT). That said, the purpose of the tendered projects is to review and interpret existing evidence, so we are not expecting any substantial primary research to occur at this point. We might consider a small amount of primary research where it is useful to help prepare for the reviews or interpret findings (e.g. carrying out interviews or holding a workshop to help refine search terms, eligibility criteria, etc). The reviews may and can recommend primary research as a future way of filling evidence gaps they identify.

Our focus is on the formal justice system of England and Wales and the legal issues and processes which comprise that system. Though Public Inquiries play an important role within the justice system, our main focus at this moment in time is on the more permanent parts of the system (e.g. courts and tribunals). However, we are open to tenderers suggesting with reasoning, a focus on other aspects of the justice system that they feel are important to its effectiveness.

None of the reviews are bound by a theoretical or interpretive lens. Tenderers are free to suggest with reasoning how they might approach the reviews and interpret the findings that are extracted. We will assess the approach proposed by tenderers in line with the assessment criteria as contained in the ITT (specifically the Understanding of the Requirement, and Methodological Approach sections)