Clan Childlaw

Clan Childlaw CEO Alison Reid has been awarded the Law Society of Scotland’s inaugural Legal Pioneer Award. The award has been created as part of the Law Society’s 75th anniversary celebrations and has been presented to individuals that have been recognised as offering significant contri

On 12 June, Clan Childlaw celebrated 16 years of delivering its child-centred legal outreach services for children and young people with an event held at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

Clan Childlaw has secured funding from The Promise Partnership from Corra Foundation on behalf of Scottish government to continue the development of the work of the Lawyers For Children project. For many years Clan Childlaw has taken the lead in the development of child centred and trauma informed l

A new animation shares young people’s experiences of legal representation and articulates what they want from their lawyers.

Katy Nisbet has been promoted to head of legal policy at Clan Childlaw. She said: “I am delighted to be promoted to head of legal policy for Clan Childlaw. I am looking forward to developing our influencing strategy to ensure that the laws of Scotland fully protect and respect the rights of ch

There is a significant gap between what children and young people want, and need, from their lawyers, and what they usually experience, according to new findings from Clan Childlaw. A study commissioned by the charity also found that lack of access to legal advice has major and often long-term reper

Clan Childlaw is calling for a more child-friendly and accessible legal aid system, in response to an ongoing consultation about financial eligibility for those applying for legal aid. It said the current legal aid system expects children and young people to navigate a complicated system which is no

The age at which a child can be charged with a crime rises from 8 to 12 tomorrow as the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 comes into force. Clan Childlaw has welcomed this change but cautions that Scotland should be "aiming much higher". Having an age of criminal responsibility is a

Clan Childlaw has lent its support to the latest amendments to the Children (Scotland) Bill, which would widen participation in children's hearings. The bill as amended would modify the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. As a result of the changes, certain individuals, who are curre

Justice First Fellow Louise Herd discusses her experience as a trainee at Clan Childlaw. Clan Childlaw was founded in 2008 by Alison Reid and Fiona Jones after they recognised a need for a specialist outreach legal representation service for children and young people in Scotland.

Clan Childlaw’s case involving the rights of brothers and sisters in children’s hearings began in the Supreme Court today. The case, known as ABC, involves a 14-year-old (now aged 16) who wanted to have a say in decisions made about his sibling at children’s hearings.

Plans to bolster the law in relation to keeping siblings together when they are placed in local authority care, where it is in their interests to do so, have been announced. The changes will impose a duty on local authorities to take steps to promote personal relations and contact between brothers a