Law Centres

What they do

Law Centres provide a free and independent professional legal service to people who live or work in their catchment areas.

Law Centres were to set up to overcome the obstacles faced by people who need access to the legal system. Free, publicly provided legal advice should be available to everyone, not just to those with financial resources or to those few that can get legal aid because of their income, there are many areas of law where legal aid is simply not available. This means that even in areas where fundamental rights are in dispute there is no access to the legal system. Legal aid is not available, for example, for representation at Industrial Tribunals or Immigration Appeals Tribunals.

Law Centres are managed democratically by individuals and organisations from their local areas. They work closely with their communities and provide the kind of services that are most suitable for that area. This accountability means that they complement the services of other community groups and advice agencies in the area, ensuring that there is no duplication of work and providing the local groups with back-up legal advice when needed.

Areas of work

Other areas of work vary according to local need and may include mental health, disability rights, education rights, juvenile crime and children's rights. Law Centres were set up with a vision - that of providing a more complete and responsive service to people than the individual service provided by private lawyers. This means providing a more efficient and comprehensive service for their users. They employ solicitors, barristers, legal advisers and community workers. In addition to dealing with individual cases (including test cases, judicial reviews and representation), they use their grants to:

  • work with whole groups of people, rather than just helping one person at a time
  • provide training and information about the law and people's rights
  • go out into their communities and identify legal problems at an early stage
  • take on cases that clarify and extend rights for the public
  • comment on and propose improvements in the law as it affects their clients
  • provide legal advice and services for community organisation provide initial quick advice and/ or referral


Print this page

Information on this page is current and last updated: 12/03/2008

Call us now on:

Further Information