What We Do
We launched the Scottish Just Law Centre (SJLC) in 2020 with the aim of reducing discrimination and disadvantage in Scotland by helping individuals use equalities and human rights law as an effective tool for social change.
The Equality Act 2010 clarified and strengthened the existing anti-discrimination law a decade ago. However, disabled people, and people with other protected characteristics, still regularly experience the discriminatory acts and omissions of public bodies, public service providers and employers.
Individuals have enforceable rights under the Equality Act that would enable them to challenge these discriminatory acts and omissions but, nonetheless, there remain substantial gaps in their access to such justice.
The SJLC therefore aims to promote access to justice for people experiencing discrimination by raising awareness of legal remedies amongst front line workers in community advice and support organisations and building links between them and lawyers specialising in public law, so that they can assist service users to pursue strategic litigation as an effective way of tackling discriminatory law, policy and practice.
The senior solicitor within our Scottish Just Law Centre will be one of the public law specialists undertaking this direct legal case work.
The centre aims to build and pilot a model that works for Scotland, drawing learning from the PILS Project in Northern Ireland, the Public Interest Law Centre and Public Law Project in England & Wales, and the Public Interest Law Alliance in the Republic of Ireland.
It will initially focus upon disability justice and transgender justice, before extending the work to cover discrimination stemming from the other protected characteristics.
Who We Are
We will be working in partnership with Inclusion Scotland to develop and deliver our work focusing on disability justice, and with Scottish Trans Alliance, with respect to our focus on transgender justice.
We will shortly be open for referrals, but will provide further updates about how to access our services here.
If you would like to discuss referrals, or an opportunity to collaborate in our work, please email: SJLC@justrightscotland.org.uk.
Any press enquiries should be sent to: press@justrightscotland.org.uk.
Our Funder
We are grateful to The Baring Foundation for funding the development and launch of the SJLC.
