Interview: Kathleen Bolt

The legal profession’s territorial response to competitor service providers which jeopardise its future well-being is understandable and necessary to ensure prosperity in an aggressive climate.

Yet despite posing no obvious threat, law centres, hybrid organisations servicing unmet legal need while acting as pressure groups for social change, have struggled to enter the mainstream and continue instead to be viewed with suspicion and hostility in some quarters.

Located in central Glasgow, the Ethnic Minorities law centre tackles the unmet legal need of a population for whom language or cultural differences prevent access to orthodox services.

Principal solicitor Kathleen Bolt sees no need for private practice to resent the existence of law centres: “Centres like ours pose no threat to private practice, our remit is clear in tackling only that legal need which would not otherwise be catered for”.

In view of that, she welcomes a recent Scottish Office consultation document which aims to initiate debate about the pivotal role of community legal services.

“This is an opportunity for law centres to raise their profile by engaging in the debate over the provision and use of advice agencies and in particular the use of non-legally qualified staff.  We’re keen to ensure that full legal representation can be provided right through the system for clients who come to us.”

While law centres have traditionally been located in geographical areas of deprivation, the Ethnic Minorities law centre, despite attracting its core funding from Glasgow City Council, offers its specialist services beyond to Renfrew, Kilmarnock and parts of Lanarkshire thanks to a grant scheme funded by the Scottish Office.

“There was a realisation that beyond the city boundaries, members of the ethnic minority population had the same kind of problems which if anything are exacerbated by an increased isolation.

“The main focus of law centres is social welfare law, an area not traditionally met by private practice either because they don’t have the interest or find it isn’t financially viable.

“Law centres have long played a role in developing areas of law such as housing entitlements in relation to evictions and dampness.  Here, aware of the issues which impinge upon black and ethnic minority communities, we have developed an expertise in immigration and asylum law and will continue to closely examine particular parts of social security legislation, such as the habitual residence test, which impacts upon the community we serve.  Ten years ago few practitioners had much knowledge of immigration and asylum law, now there is a growing body of expertise in conjunction with the Scottish Refugee Council and committed private practitioners.

“Our approach is that we will meet with anyone who makes an appointment.  If their problem is outwith our remit, hopefully we’ll be able to help them get advice and representation elsewhere.”

In stressing that law centres are not in the business of competing with private practice, Kathleen Bolt highlights the example of Castlemilk law centre.  A number of private firms have grown up around Castlemilk, which is the longest standing law centre, where the work of private practice and the law centre now complement each other.

Her own background is as a civil court solicitor whose occasional dabbling in immigration work helped persuade her of a long-running desire to work in social welfare areas of practice.  Having been employed at the centre for five of its seven-year existence, she has a clear vision of where the organisation would like to head.

“We are keen to develop a greater case-load of race discrimination work.  It’s apparent that perhaps people don’t still appreciate their rights.  We work closely with the Commission for Racial Equality, who will sometimes refer cases to us on behalf of individuals.”

The need for centres such as the Ethnic Minorities law centre has perhaps been sharpened by a number of high-profile cases.  In the aftermath of the Stephen Lawrence and Surjit Singh Chhokar cases, the phrase institutionalised racism has almost become so commonplace as to render it trite.  Nevertheless Kathleen Bolt is reluctant to agree that these cases have almost vindicated the very existence of her role.

“We have long been concerned about issues of treatment of victims of racial crimes.  We’ve held seminars advising people about the potential for protection from racial harassment and have explained how clauses in the Crime and Disorder Act have created a new offence of racially aggravated crime.

“The centre is aware of the need to make the mainstream profession more aware of the needs of ethnic minorities through initiatives such as a family law and immigration seminar which we hope helped inform family law practitioners to be better prepared in advising ethnic minority clients who approach them.

“The Lawrence case has highlighted that institutionalised racism is possible and it’s important that we start to ask similar questions in Scotland.  While we don’t know if there are parallels in the Chhokar case, the Macpherson report highlighted that families of victims of racial crime should be treated appropriately, professionally, with respect and according to their needs, which may include recognising that the members of the family might not have English as their first language.”

For Kathleen Bolt there is no reason for Scottish justice not to welcome the recommendations of the Macpherson report: “The majority of recommendations should be implemented, subject to differences in our legal system.  In particular, removing the exemptions police officers enjoy under the Race Relations Act and the need for ongoing racial awareness training for institutions dispensing criminal justice.  It’s also important that we take on board the need to step up recruitment of ethnic minorities into the police force.”

So does she share concerns over the handling of the Chhokar case?  “The centre’s view having met with the family is that the handling of the case has induced a sense of injustice.  Our principal concern is that the other two suspects are brought to trial.  The family has been let down in its treatment by the Crown Office insofar as they were not kept fully informed, in particular in not being spoken to after the Crown opted not to move for sentence.”

The death of Shawlands schoolboy Imran Khan, whether or not it was viewed as a racist attack, also highlights deficiencies in race relations in this country, according to Kathleen Bolt: “The problems of youth racism in Glasgow have been brought to a head by the Imran Khan case.  Many Asian youths are suffering racism on a daily basis, but don’t have the necessary confidence in police or schools.  For us, it also highlights that the generation gap means those born and brought up here have different needs to be addressed than perhaps their parents whom we have catered for more.”

If the Lawrence and Chhokar cases have brought issues of racism in from a comparative wilderness to the forefront of the social agenda, to a lesser extent the recent proposals contained in the latest Immigration and Asylum Bill have brought that area of law out of the shadows.

For the Law Society of Scotland, the concern primarily relates to the considerable powers vested in the Commissioner to regulate complaints to the potential detriment of the profession’s self-regulatory autonomy.

At the Ethnic Minorities law centre the concerns are different:

“This is the third piece of legislation in this area in just six years.  The conclusion of our organisations is that the process will be faster and firmer, but we’re not convinced it will be fairer.

“Some of the changes are to be welcomed, but the rhetoric is still one which suggests the majority of asylum seekers are not genuine in some sense.  Press coverage in this country certainly suggests they are all bogus.”

Most concerning is the proposition that asylum seekers will be offered only one opportunity for accommodation, and will only be awarded benefit in the form of help in kind.

“There is a reasonable likelihood that a large number of asylum seekers will be placed in Glasgow and this will certainly increase the need for full legal advice and representation.”

For many that might mean approaching the law centre.

“The success of this centre depends on providing a culturally sensitive and accessible service.  This depends upon the staff being representative of the various communities and my ability to deal appropriately and sensitively with cases coming in here.  As a member of the indigenous community I rely upon the knowledge and experience of the other staff to help me do so.

“Across the profession there is an under-representation of ethnic minorities, particularly at partner level.  But there is an increasing number of young people from ethnic backgrounds entering the profession.  It remains to be seen what progress they will make.”

For anyone seeking to progress to law centres, what qualities would  Kathleen Bolt advise are necessary?  “It’s important to realise that you’re not working in isolation.  I deal with a case as anyone would, trying to achieve the best outcome for my client, but in so doing there are always wider issues to be addressed.  A great challenge of the job is trying to influence policy through a case.  To a great extent the legal need in Scotland is demand led and this determines how resources are directed towards us.

“With a reducing number of firms doing legal aid work and increasing eligibility limits for legal aid, we already know, for example, that some women are having more difficulty in accessing remedies like interdicts and exclusion orders.  This means that access to justice for a proportion of the general population is decreasing and therefore we face a particular challenge in seeking to increase access for the black and ethnic minority communities especially within such a climate.”

Under-staffed and under-funded, the staff at this, and probably most law centres, work well beyond their terms and conditions.  “We really operate on a year-to-year basis of funding.  So we can never be sure whether this centre will continue to exist.  The financial insecurity limits the extent to which we can develop and plan projects.”

Those cynical about law centres and their social reforming aims might well suggest this is no bad thing.  After all, with just a couple of exceptions, these centres exist only in the West of Scotland and most of the population seems to manage in their absence.  But as the political agenda narrows, the role of law centres as the champion of the deprived and disadvantaged might become, if it isn’t already, indispensable.