News and Press
Law Centre news and press releases
The latest news from Law Centres is published here.
Law Centre news
- Bury Law Centre wins national award
Bury Law Centre has been given a national award for its pioneering free legal advice clinics. - DWP discriminates against blind woman
A Sheffield woman has won her case for disability discrimination against the Department for Work and Pensions. Sheffield County Court awarded £2,500 after the ruling. Angela Sharrock was represented by Douglas Johnson of Sheffield Law Centre in her claim for disability discrimination - Warnings over repossession advice
Law Centres report that the number of repossession cases coming to court has doubled in the last six months. Sheffield, Isle of Wight and Harehills and Chapeltown Law Centre in Leeds all report massive increases. Transact, the national forum for financial inclusion say that as a result, more and more people are not gettng the legal advice or representation they need. - Hard Work, Hidden Lives
This spring, thirty-two Law Centres took part in an important piece of research carried out by the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment (CoVE). The report, ‘Hard Work, Hidden Lives’ was launched on 8th May by Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC and presented to the Prime Minister on 4th June. - London Legal Support Trust Walk
Law Centre and LCF walkers joined more than 3,500 lawyers for the fourth London Legal Support Trust sponsored walk. The walk from the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) to the Law Society’s head office in Chancery Lane took place on 20th May. - Rights of Fixed-Term Workers
Law Centre (Northern Ireland) recently won an important Industrial Tribunal case establishing the rights of fixed-term workers who are affected by the Review of Public Administration. The Tribunal decided that the Western Health and Social Care Trust had discriminated against one of its employees because he worked on a fixed-term contract. - Access to Environmental Justice
In a Report published in May, a working party chaired by the Hon Mr Justice Sullivan declared that changes must be implemented in the court rules on costs that effectively prevent individuals and groups from bringing legal challenges to environmental decisions, if the UK is not to breach the Aarhus Convention. - Record £5,000 awarded for disability discrimination
At a hearing on 26th March, District Judge Weston awarded damages of £5,000. The case taken up by Disability Rights Worker at Sheffield Law Centre represents the highest level of compensation to date for a case brought under Part 3 (non-employment cases) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. - South West London Law Centres - Legal Aid reforms forces closure
Changes to the way that Legal Aid is funded is having a devastating impact on the viability of Law Centres, Citizens Advice Bureaux and other independent advice agencies. These organisations operate in the charity and voluntary sector provide representation for vulnerable people. They are a small but dedicated band of professionals and volunteers who challenge the State on behalf of the vulnerable, using the law to hold the powerful to account and to protect people’s rights from abuse. They work long hours, for little or no financial reward. They work for you. And they are being destroyed before our eyes. - Protecting Fundamental Rights - Telling it as it is…
Protecting Fundamental Rights – the keynote theme of this year’s annual Conference – brought Law Centres from across the country together at their national forum to discuss how key social policies are affecting individuals and communities. As Chair John Fitzpatrick says ‘ we can tell it as it is. Law Centres are superbly placed to gauge how policies are impacting on the ground – we are at the centre of communities. This year is a crossroads in some important areas of change – including immigration and legal aid.
