Law centres: from radical roots to advancing rights and equality

In the Law Society's 75th anniversary year, Amy McGilp, Communication Officer at the Legal Services Agency in Glasgow, explores the history of law centres in Scotland, from their radical roots to their present day achievements in advancing rights and addressing inequality.

Our story begins 75 years ago with the Legal Aid and Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1949, the very same act that established a Law Society of Scotland.

The act made legal aid and advice more readily available to people in the UK. However – with few legal practices in deprived areas, and a lack of lawyers specialising in the areas of law most relevant to working class communities (such as housing, employment, and welfare rights) – there still existed many obstacles to accessing justice for those in society experiencing disadvantage.

This all changed in 1970, with the opening of Kensington Law Centre (now, North Kensington Law Centre), the very first law centre in the United Kingdom.

Inspired by the neighbourhood law offices that supported the civil rights movement in the USA, a group of radical young lawyers founded Kensington Law Centre in an old butcher’s shop. Within three weeks, they had seen over 200 people – and that was only the beginning. The centre has, for over 50 years now, helped the Kensington community access justice and enforce their legal rights. They would go on to help and support the local community in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

As put by Tony Gifford QC, co-founder of the Kensington Law Centre:

“The message was very simple: justice is for all – and, in particular, for those with slender means because they are more likely to be exploited.”

Nine years later, in 1979, Castlemilk Law Centre opened as the first law centre in Scotland.

Castlemilk Law Centre – and Scottish law centres, in general – were established as a result of working-class community activism. According to Paul Brown, former principal solicitor at LSA: “It all began with people in Castlemilk coming in saying this is an injustice, is there a remedy? It was making the connection between someone who knew about it and getting on with it.”

For ten years, Castlemilk Law Centre was the only law centre in Scotland. In this time, they created innovative legal remedies for those in their community and beyond. Castlemilk Law Centre’s achievements in this time include pioneering the reasonableness defence to eviction in Scotland – a remedy now used in thousands of cases, every year.

In 1989, Legal Services Agency (LSA) was established as Scotland’s second law centre.

LSA was developed from Technical Services Agency, a tenant-led community architectural practice and ginger group largely concerned with public sector housing issues. In their first year, LSA won a condensation dampness claim for child asthma against Glasgow City Council, resulting in a two-page spread in the Daily Record. Casework soon took off, and within six months LSA were employed on 35 actions.

Fast-forward to present-day, and there is now a community of ten law centres in Scotland, in which LSA plays a key role.

Based on the principle of tackling unmet legal need, LSA has expanded its expertise into mental health law, criminal injuries law, employment law, welfare benefits law, and disability law. LSA have also expanded their geographical reach; last year they assisted clients in 29 out of 32 Scottish local authority areas.

As well as achieving the best outcome for individual clients – crucially, law centres are designed to spot trends, challenging wider issues and systemic failures through strategic litigation and campaigning – enacting long-term, sustainable change. 

For example, LSA was involved in the campaign against the former “same roof” rule, which prevented victims of abuse suffered pre-1979 claiming criminal injuries compensation if the abuse was committed by a member of their own household. Parallel litigation in all three UK jurisdictions resulted in the UK Government changing this rule during the Supreme Court appeal.

Scottish law centres frequently campaign together to challenge laws that they have collectively found to be unjust. The Mortgage Rights Act 2001 – which suspends a creditor’s right to immediately eject a mortgager from their home when they fail to make payment – was enacted following a lengthy joint campaign by LSA, Govan Law Centre, and the then Drumchapel Law Centre.

Law centres have also been effecting change through community legal education. LSA is one of Scotland’s top legal education providers, hosting seminars, workshops, conferences and webinars for those in the legal field and beyond.

LSA has also been a committed provider of voluntary opportunities and traineeships which have paved the way for the next generation of social justice lawyers in Scotland. Among LSA’s ex-volunteers is former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Despite their positive impact, funding issues at both central and local government level mean that many law centres in Scotland face financial uncertainty. Funding cuts caused Renfrewshire Law Centre to close its doors in 2018 – a time when principal solicitor Jon Kiddie described there being more demand for their services than ever before.

As said by Annie Campbell Viswanathan, ex-director of North Kensington Law Centre: “Every neighbourhood, every community should have a law centre.”

Law centres are lifelines for the most vulnerable members of our society, and the work that they do makes Scotland a better and fairer place. For these reasons, the law centre sector requires adequate funding to ensure that justice is truly accessible to all.

On a personal level, working in a law centre has been extremely beneficial for my learning and development at this early stage of my legal career. It is a privilege to be part of an organisation so influential in tackling inequality. I am inspired by the hard work and passion of LSA’s dedicated staff. Their ethos of honesty, integrity, and commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, are lessons that I will carry with me for the whole of my time in the legal field.