Mar 16, 2023
This blog post was written by a young person we have worked with. She wanted to share the importance of thinking about how many cultures might have different approaches to human rights and highlight the value of taking multicultural approaches. Human rights are seen...
Job title: Solicitor – Community Clinic (Part-time fixed for one year, continuation subject to funding) Reporting to: Senior Solicitor Accountable to: Senior Solicitor Supervisory responsibilities: Interns and volunteers as assigned Hours and location:...
The Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 – Changes to Children’s Justice Having received royal assent in June 2024, the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 effects important changes to how children are cared for and treated in our criminal and...
We have just published our report on Access to Justice! The Scottish Child Law Centre, has found that there are significant barriers to children accessing justice when their rights have been breached. Poverty is preventing children and families from realising their...
When asked to write an article for the Scottish Child Law Centre about the current barriers to Justice from a Child Law perspective it was a little daunting! Would there not be a short case I could summarise instead? However, this topic is extremely important as we...
Last week the Scottish Government chose to drop its promise of introducing a new Human Rights Bill. Yesterday we joined over 100 organisations in expressing our disappointment in the Scottish government, as we believe that this bill is a crucial step in addressing the...
On 16th July the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force. This is a monumental piece of legislation that enshrines the UNCRC into Scots law and introduces new duties for public authorities and new avenues of redress...
Our free legal advice is a lifeline to many children and families. The demand for this service has increased significantly since the beginning of the year. We are seeing a consistent theme in the queries we receive, and they often go something like this: “I am trying...
The Scottish Child Law Centre are delighted to introduce the first of our new quarterly newsletters. It’s been busy times in our specialist hub and our services are much in demand. Given this, we want to ensure our valued members, volunteers, partners and most of all,...
Originally posted on Scottish Legal News. The Scottish Child Law Centre has been awarded £25,000 in funding thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The award is timely given the increased demand for the centre’s services and a growing complexity of cases. Last...
It's #VolunteersWeek, and we have been celebrating our fabulous solicitors across our social media pages. Headed up by Jamie Speirs, our senior solicitor, our volunteer solicitors help us to provide free legal advice, support access to justice and protect more...
If we are to sustainably implement children’s rights, we need fair access to justice for all children, training to strengthen advocates for their rights…and a pair of LEGO earrings! Bar the latter, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child agrees. As many of you...
What happens if a parent doesn’t comply with a court order for their child to have contact with the other parent? The consequences for the non-complying parent could be a custodial sentence, a fine, or both. In a judgement released on 6 February 2024 in the case M v...
Documenting our lives on social media has become the norm for many. We use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to interact and keep in touch with friends and family. I can scroll through my newsfeed on any one of various social media apps and see photos...
Everyone at the Scottish Child Law Centre is deeply saddened by the passing of Alan Inglis. A board member at the Centre since 2018, he strongly supported the Centre’s aims of ensuring better access to legal advice and justice for children, young people, and families...
We carried out a 6-week pilot of in person community Clinic in Govanhill in November 2022. The aim of the clinic was to reach some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children and to increase the diversity and equality of those we are delivering legal advice to. Stakeholder...
Just recently we were delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to deliver the keynote speech at the Children and Families Family Law Conference arranged by the Law Society of Scotland. As most will not be aware The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was...
Download The ALLIANCE_UNCRC incorporation_event flash report
WHAT IS THE UNCRC? The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of every child under the age of 18. These rights are universal,...
Scottish Child Law Centre celebrates 30th birthday 5 April 2022 The Scottish Child Law Centre is delighted to be celebrating its 30th anniversary of providing free legal advice and training on children and young people’s rights. Since established, the Centre has...
We know that children with care experience are more likely than their peers to experience police contact and criminalisation, despite no evidence that they commit greater offences than other children. They are also less likely to receive support at the police station...
The SCLC welcomes the passing of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill. The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Bill on 16th March 2021. The Bill will come into force 6 months after receiving Royal Assent and we look forward to undertaking work with other...
Last year we gave free legal advice to 3210 people through our adviceline.
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