HCLC News

Akinsanya announcement

 

On 30/07/24 the Court of Appeal refused Ms Akinsanya permission to appeal the High Court judgment of Mr Justice Eyre R(Akinsanya and Aning-Adjei) v SSHD [2024] EWHC 469 (Admin) dismissing her claim. Michael Spencer of @DoughtyStreet has written this very helpful article re the judgment and those affected.

 

The Court’s decision closes a significant chapter in the long-running litigation on the route to settlement for Zambrano carers under the EU Settlement Scheme. This article is aimed at helping those affected and their advisers to understand the latest judgment and consider what if anything they can do next to hasten their path to settlement.

 

https://insights.doughtystreet.co.uk/post/102jhov/derivative-residence-rights-and-the-eu-settlement-scheme

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE

seeks

Welfare Benefits Caseworker:  £32,000-36,000pa  according to experience

Key duties:

• To provide a comprehensive specialist welfare benefits advice service for people living in Hackney.
• To provide specialist casework and representation in welfare benefits matters
• Must have at least 1 years’ experience of benefits advice work.

 

The successful candidate must be adaptable and able to work in a busy environment, and must be able to demonstrate strong written & verbal skills.

 

 

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Two schemes launched in memory to Hackney Community Law centre senior lawyer Nat Mathews

 

Nat Mathews was a much-loved lawyer who worked at Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) for nearly thirty years, and who died two years ago in April 2022. As part of the Memorial to Nat Mathews, HCLC Board has agreed to two schemes:

 

It is two years since Nathaniel Mathews tragically died, well before his time. Since then, staff and trustees from Hackney Community Law Centre have reflected on how best to serve his memory and his work. This included consulting with his immediate family and friends.

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22 March 2024: Update on Akinsanya litigation …

 

Akinsanya & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 469 (Admin)

 

The judgment in the second Akinsanya judicial review was handed down on 11 March 2024. The High Court ruled that the SSHD had misunderstood the operation of the Zambrano principle when writing guidance excluding those without another form of leave to remain from the EU Settlement Scheme.

 

However, the judge ruled that this misunderstanding did not affect the decision in the claimants' cases, and that the refusal of EU settled or pre-settled status to those applicants, like Ms Akinsanya, with another form of leave to remain, taken as a whole, was neither irrational nor discriminatory.

 

This is a positive outcome for applicants who did not have another form of leave during the relevant period, however, the practical effect of this judgment is unclear at this stage. We will provide further updates when available.

 

Please refer to this Free Movement article for further detail:

https://freemovement.org.uk/akinsanya-latest-guidance-on-zambrano-carers-found-to-be-unlawful-appendix-eu-unaffected/

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Akinsanya Judicial Review number 2 is in the High Court this week, 13 and 14 December 2023. Joined with the case of Aning-Adjei v SSHD.

 

Simon Cox and Michael Spencer of Doughty Street Chambers acting as Counsel for the Claimant, instructing solicitor is Beya Rivers, Hackney Community Law Centre.

 

We will provide updates regarding the judgment when available.

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It was disappointing to report that the Court of Appeal has dismissed our appeal in this case involving the rehousing of homeless families out of London. 

 

We had argued that the London Borough of Waltham Forest's reliance on the benefit cap as a means to relocate single parent households breached the Equality Act 2010 https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2023/992.html

 

The Court found that the council had paid 'due regard' to the Public Sector Equality Duty but it also found that any breach would not have led to a different outcome. The rehousing of our client from Waltham Forest to Walsall had been lawful. 

 

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE

seeks

Welfare Benefits Caseworker:  £30,000-36,000  according to experience

Context of the post: This post is funded by the City Bridge Trust for three years.

Key duties:

• To provide a comprehensive specialist welfare benefits advice service for people living in Hackney.
• To provide specialist casework and representation in welfare benefits matters
• Must have at least 1 years’ experience of benefits advice work.

 

The successful candidate must be adaptable and able to work in a busy environment, and must be able to demonstrate strong written & verbal skills.

 

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On 13 July 2023 the Court of Appeal considered our homelessness challenge in a case about Waltham Forest’s homelessness rehousing policy. Waltham Forest has relied upon the benefit cap as a way to determine where people are offered rehousing and as a result of this our client and her children were provided with private accommodation in the West Midlands despite her and her family’s very strong ties to East London.  The benefit cap disproportionately affects single parent households and so impacts women more than men - we have long argued that this aspect of the council’s homeless policy has a discriminatory impact as the effect is to ensure that single parent households (the vast majority of which are headed by single mothers) are only ever considered for rehousing very far from London. The appeal now considers whether this was in breach of the Equality Act 2010.  Judgment from the Court is now awaited. This will be an important case for homeless households in Waltham Forest, but will also have implications for many other homeless families in Hackney and across London.

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Housing Solicitor/Senior Caseworker: £37,000-£42,000 according to experience
Key duties:
• To provide specialist casework and representation in housing law
• To provide case supervision and to meet the Legal Aid supervisor standard
• To ensure compliance with Legal Aid Agency contract and funding requirements
• To be familiar with SRA requirements
• To act as duty solicitor
• To provide outreach advice and training

 [Read More]

HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE

seeks

Welfare Benefits Caseworker:  £30,000-36,000  according to experience

Context of the post: This post is funded by the National Lottery Fund for three years.

Key duties:

• To provide a comprehensive specialist welfare benefits advice service for people living in Hackney.
• To provide specialist casework and representation in welfare benefits matters
• Must have at least 1 years’ experience of benefits advice work.

 [Read More]

This post is to provide updated information regarding the Akinsanya EUSS Zambrano legal challenge, and also to provide a template of grounds of challenge for these types of cases (see bottom of update).

 

Who should read this update?

This update may be relevant to you if:

• you are not a British or EU citizen; AND
• you do not already have indefinite leave: AND
• you do not already have status under the EU Settlement Scheme; AND
• you are the parent or primary carer of a British citizen child living in the UK; AND
• you were the parent or primary carer of a British citizen child living in the UK before 31 December 2020.

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EUSS Zambrano update – Further challenge

 

Following the successful challenge in the High Court in 2021, the Home Office had agreed to quash their initial refusal of Ms Akinsanya’s application and remake the decision following any challenge in the Court of Appeal and following their subsequent review of the rules and guidance on Zambrano EUSS applications.

The Home Office announced the outcome of their review on 13 June 2022, and as discussed in more detail in our previous update (29/6/22), they did not change the immigration rules to benefit Ms Akinsanya, who had another form of limited leave at the specified date (31 December 2020) and at the date of her EUSS application.

Following that review, the Home Office have remade the decision on Ms Akinsanya’s application, and it has been refused again.

Further to this second refusal of Ms Akinsanya’s application, her legal team will pursue a further challenge in the High Court. No Hearing date has yet been listed.

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On 13 June 2022, the Home Office announced the outcome of its review of the EUSS Zambrano route, following the January 2022 Court of Appeal hearing. Unfortunately, they have announced that they will not be removing restrictions prohibiting those with other forms of leave from applying for EU Settled Status.

 

Although Ms Akinsanya was successful overall in the Court of Appeal, the Home Office were successful on one ground, regarding their interpretation of EU law. Their interpretation is that a person does not qualify for a Zambrano right to reside if they have another form of leave to remain and this interpretation was found to be correct by the Court of Appeal. In their announcement of 13 June 2022, the Home Office stated that the Appendix EU exclusion of Zambrano carers with other forms of leave from applying to the EU Settlement Scheme is justified, because this exclusion correctly reflects EU law.

 

The Home Office have stated that they will now make decisions on outstanding EUSS Zambrano applications that have been on hold, pending the outcome of their review. They have also provided a 6 week extension, until 25 July 2022, for individuals, who have not yet submitted an application, to submit one if they are eligible.

 

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Doughty Street Chambers will host a seminar on 8 July 2022 to discuss this recent Home Office decision of 13 June 2022, and its implications for applicants. 

 

Please find more details about the seminar here: https://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/event/new-eu-settlement-scheme-rules-zambrano-carers

 

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The Home Office have now published their reviewed guidance following the Akinsanya appeal. Unfortunately, they have not removed restrictions prohibiting those with other forms of leave from applying for settled status. We are considering the next steps.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-zambrano-primary-carers/eu-settlement-scheme-zambrano-primary-carers

 

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UPDATE: EUSS Zambrano – Further delay to the Secretary of State reconsideration of the rules and policy

 

The Secretary of State has advised that there will be a further delay in completing her review of the EUSS Zambrano rules and now expects the announcement of the outcome of the reconsideration to be made by 13 June 2022. This is all the information we have at this time. Please continue to keep an eye on our website and Twitter for further updates as and when they come.

HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE

seeks

Paralegal:  £22,000 (35 hours a week)

Hackney Community Law Centre is looking for a new paralegal dedicated to social justice, housing and welfare benefits law. Ideal candidates will have an outstanding understanding of public law and an evidenced interest in social welfare issues.

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Sean Canning is a solicitor at, and the manager of, Hackney Community Law Centre.

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It is with the deepest sadness that Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) announces the death, after a short illness, of Nathaniel (Nat) Mathews, our housing and senior solicitor and previous recipient of the LAPG Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) award.

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Our Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris and Desmond Rutledge of Garden Court Chambers represented the claimant (respondent) in the case LBWF v PO [2022] UKUT 58 (AAC).

 

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Mike Spencer of Doughty Street, who was counsel alongside Simon Cox for Akinsanya, writes a post about the Court of Appeal judgment in R (oao Akinsanya) v. SSHD [2022] EWCA Civ 37 and what it means. 

 

[Read more]

 

The London Borough of Croydon has accepted that its allocations scheme unlawfully excluded several classes of eligible individuals and agreed to amend its policy. Our Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris acted for the claimant.

 

[Read More]

 

Akinsanya judgment in Court of Appeal: Home Secretary must re-think EUSS rules for Zambrano carers. Our solicitor, Beya Rivers, represented the Claimant/Respondent.

 

[Read more]

Zambrano carers and the EUSS Scheme – What you need to know

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 Law Centre success in challenging unfair Government immigration restrictions. High Court rules that Home Office EUSS policy excluding Zambrano Carers with limited leave is unlawful

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) has successfully represented a client in a judicial review claim against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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Hackney Community Law Centre has submitted formal evidence to the Independent Review of 
Administrative Law.

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Hackney Community Law Centre is recruiting volunteers for the term 13 April to Friday 3 July 2020.

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Please note that Hackney Community Law Centre will be closed from Friday 20 December 2019 at 5pm and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2020 @ 10.00am.

 

If you need urgent housing advice please contact the Shelter Helpline: 0808 800 4444.

 

We wish you all a very Merry Xmas!

Hackney Community Law Centre is recruiting volunteers for the term 30 September tor to Friday 20^th December 2019.

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE  is looking for an experienced welfare benefits specialist to join our team who meets the LAA supervisor standards. They will be expected to deliver a range of outreach, advice, casework, and representation services to Hackney residents, with a focus on the impact of Universal Credit. They will also be expected to provide money management and financial capability training to residents needing support. The intention is to provide clients with legal support which is as holistic as possible and which helps clients’ achieve sustainable improvements in their circumstances.

 

You will be expected to run a caseload and provide advocacy at the First Tier and Upper Tribunals.

 

You will be part of an award winning strong social welfare team. We have a public law contract and will also be looking to identify suitable cases for judicial review.

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Hackney Community Law Centre is recruiting two legal interns for the term 8^th April to 28^th June 2019.

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE is recruiting a Triage Advice Worker/Administrator.

Salary: £28,000 per annum

 

Funded by the Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities programme this post is ideally suited to someone with an interest in social welfare law and who is committed to access to justice. The successful candidate will carry out a range of triage based work covering face to face and telephone advice but also work over a range of administrative tasks to support the Law Centre’s work. Due to the mix of responsibilities the post is unlikely to be suited to a person with interest in conducting legal casework exclusively.

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Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored Hackney Community Law Centre's 2018 London Legal Walk.

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted that Declan O'Callaghan, a HCLC patron since 2013, has been appointed a judge of the first tier asylum and immigration tribunal sitting at Taylor House, London.

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On Monday May 21st 2018, Hackney Community Law Centre will be participating in the 2018 London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust. 

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) is delighted to introduce HCLC trustee Ian Browne. Ian joined HCLC's Board of Directors in December 2017 at our Annual General Meeting. 

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It is with deep regret that we have learnt of the death of Sir Henry Brooke – a tremendous loss to all of us fighting to restore access to justice for all the people. 

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) is delighted to welcome Mark McDonald-Loncke to the Centre as our new Justice First Fellow! Mark applied to become a JFF at HCLC in the autumn of 2017. Interviews were held in November 2017 and Mark was selected.

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We would like to thank the wonderful Hackney Umpires Cricket Club for donating the proceeds of sale from its 2017 Year Book to HCLC! 

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On Monday the 4th of December 2017, Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted that Sir Henry Brooke addressed our 2017 Annual General Meeting.

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The 2016/17 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre has now been published!

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Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place at 7pm on Monday 4th December 2017 at the Halkevi Community Centre, 31 - 33 Dalston Lane, Hackney, London E8 3DF

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We are delighted to announce that, with the help of students and pro bono staff from BPP Law School, our services to: a) help people with debt and consumer law problems; and b) help people fill out their Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms has reopened. Debt and consumer service To find out how to make an a

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Kevin Long, one of HCLC's housing solicitors, has written a piece for The Guardian on the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the role of Homes and Communities Agency.  

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted to announce that we have been selected as a host organisation for the Legal Education Foundation's Justice First Fellowship programme, which funds training contracts and pupillages in social welfare law. 

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HCLC is delighted to have welcomed Philip Glanville, the directly elected Mayor of Hackney, to the Centre on Wednesday the 2nd of August.

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HCLC is delighted to welcome US summer intern Allie Clements to the Centre.  

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Hackney Community Law Centre joined the Hackney 'More in Common' festival on Saturday the 17th of June 2017. The Hackney event, which took place at the Hackney Community College, was one of thousands around the UK celebrating the life of the late Jo Cox MP.

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We are delighted to have welcomed Sir Henry Brooke to Hackney Community Law Centre.

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Our immigration caseworker, Sonia Lenegan (pictured right) has been successful in winning a number of asylum appeals since she joined Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC). One of her recent cases involved Sonia appealing a Home Office decision after it dismissed a HCLC client's application for asylum. Our client, a gay man from Algeria, was originally told by the Home Office that they didn't bel

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) is deeply honoured to have received a donation for £500 from Lady Antonia Fraser DBE. Lady Antonia is is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. Her first major work was a 1969 biography of Mary, Queen of Scots, which was followed by several other biographies, including Cromwell, Our Chief of Men in 1973. 

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Good news for our client Julius Holgate! On Wednesday 22nd February 2017, Julius (pictured right with his HCLC caseworker Marcin Brajta) received a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) informing him that it would no longer refuse to pay him Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Back in January, Julius - a double amputee with no legs - approached HCLC for help after the DWP a

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted to welcome Sonia Lenegan to the team as our new immigration solicitor! Sonia (pictured right) joined Hackney Community Law Centre in January 2017, having previously volunteered at South West London Law Centre when she was a Legal Practice Course student. She has volunteered with Camden Law Centre since 2013. Sonia was admitted to the roll as a solicitor

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In January, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) was approached by Julius Holgate, a disabled double amputee (pictured above). Mr Holgate had applied for the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit and been asked to attend a medical assessment. Despite having no legs, Mr Holgate was awarded a total of 0 points by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officer who conducted the ass

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On Wednesday 25th January 2017, Miranda Grell, HCLC's development officer, addressed a conference organised by the Westminster Legal Policy Forum. The conference was entitled "Legal innovation and the business of law: technology, skills and new business models". Miranda gave a joint presentation with Jimmy Vestbirk, the founder of Legal Geek who organised a hackathon for HCLC last year. Mirand

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HCLC housing solicitor Jamille Mohammed (pictured right) was recently on duty at Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court. This meant that he was required to advise, assist and represent anyone attending the court that day who didn't already have a solicitor. As always, there were lots of people waiting and Jamille prevented a number of defendant tenants from being evicted. One housing associa

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SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM EVERYONE AT HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE! Thank you for your support in 2016 and we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2017! We are closed from 1pm on Friday 23rd December 2016 until 10am on Tuesday 3rd January 2017.

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Hackney Community Law Centre held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday 28th November 2016. We were delighted to be joined by our patron Jean Lambert MEP who gave the keynote address. Jean sits on a number of committees in the European Parliament. She is a member of The Employment and Social Affairs Committee working on issues including immigration, social inclusion, workers’ rights an

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HCLC is delighted to welcome two new housing solicitors to the team! Jamille Mohammed (pictured above left) joined Hackney Community Law Centre as a housing solicitor and supervisor in November 2016. He graduated in 2002 with an honours degree in Law and completed his Legal Practice Course in 2007. Jamille has practised in housing law ever since, specialising in all aspects of housing law. Jamill

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Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place at 7pm on Monday 28th November 2016 at the Halkevi Community Centre, 31 - 33 Dalston Lane, Hackney, London E8 3DF

We are delighted that HCLC Patron Jean Lambert, a Member of the European Parliament representing London, will be addressing the meeting as the key note speaker. Jean La

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We're delighted to report that HCLC's Diane Morrison has recently won a big case in the Employment Tribunal.

Diane represented a former Local Authority employee who was forced to resign from her job after 8 years of service. The client was found to have been let down by several managers, all of whom had failed to follow internal procedures to protect her from harassment over a one and half y

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HCLC is delighted to welcome Marcin Brajta to the Centre as our new Welfare Benefits caseworker.

Marcin began working at HCLC in September 2016. He previously worked for Stirling Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) as their Income Maximisation and Debt Caseworker. He also worked on housing, employment and immigration cases, acting as a trainer on immigration law to all new trainee advisors. Marcin als

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Our Senior Housing Solicitor Nathaniel Mathews (pictured above) had an eventful day last Wednesday.

Read all about it below. Jungle And so to the Gee Street Court House for my stint as Duty Solicitor, to represent any tenant without a lawyer in the undefended possession list. A list where sometimes there are as little as five minutes a case for the District Judges to decide on who must sta

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HCLC is sad to be saying au revoir to our brilliant intern Angharad Monk (pictured right)who joined us in July.

This was Angharad's second stint at HCLC as she previously volunteered with HCLC last summer. Over the last 2 months, Angharad has been an invaluable source of support to HCLC's Senior Housing Solicitor Nathaniel Mathews. She has worked on housing cases dealing with homelessness, poss

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Clapton Community Drop-in seeks volunteers!

Clapton Community Drop-in is an exciting project to complement existing community work at the Round Chapel Old School Rooms in Lower Clapton. The Drop In runs on Sundays between 1 and 4 pm, and a new project, Job Club, on Wednesdays between 12.30 and 4pm. Volunteers are asked to commit to at least one session a month, and there are also opportunities

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HCLC is delighted to welcome Justin Johnson (pictured above, right) to the centre as a summer intern.

Justin first came to HCLC as a volunteer in February 2016. He had been working in Property Development Management and as a Medical Secretary while studying on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) at the City Law School. Since July, Justin has been working with HCLC's Senior Immigrati

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HCLC is extremely proud of one of our formidable patrons, Tunde Okewale, who has given an inspirational interview to The Guardian newspaper.

Tunde joined the HCLC team as a patron in November 2014.  He grew up in Hackney and attended Orchard Primary School and Cardinal Pole Secondary School, which is literally around the corner from HCLC’s office in Lower Clapton Road. Tunde is a committed

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HCLC's Business Development Manager, Miranda Grell, has written an article for Legal Voice about using tech and digital methods of delivering advice to help combat the stigma, loss of privacy and loss of dignity that many advice seekers feel. You can read the article HERE.

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE seeks a new Housing Solicitor!

Salary – negotiable subject to experience Key duties: To provide specialist casework and representation in housing law. To ensure compliance with Legal Aid Agency contract and funding requirements To be familiar with SRA requirements The successful candidate will have specialist knowledge of housing law and public fu

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted to publish our new report: 'Finding better problems for better solutions: Digital insights for Hackney Advice Sector'.

The report, which we originally commissioned as part of the HCLC-led Sustainable Advice in Hackney project', sets out the findings of a number of public engagement sessions Social Spider CIC carried out with voluntary sector advice prov

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Please find an electronic version of the 2015 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre available to read and download HERE.

If you would like to be emailed the PDF or receive a printed copy of the report please get in touch.

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE seeks a new: Welfare Benefits Caseworker:

Salary – Ј25,000 Key duties: To provide a comprehensive specialist welfare benefits advice service for people living in Hackney. To provide specialist casework and representation in welfare benefits matters The successful candidate will have specialist knowledge of means-tested and non-means tested welfare b

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On Monday 13th June 2016 between 3.30am and 5.30pm,

Hackney Community Law Centre will be delivering a free pop-up legal advice session, as part of Hackney Adult Learning Festival, at Homerton Library, Homerton High St, London E9 6AS.  If you or someone you know has a legal problem they need help with then please pop in. Hackney Adult Learning Festival is part of the national Festival of

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In recent years, though it's been a time of crisis and increased financial pressure for advice agencies and law firms, it's also been a time that has presented opportunities to think 'out of the box', innovate, and think seriously about the future delivery of our services. In the the last year alone, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) has piloted new online advice surgeries in partnership with

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HCLC is saying au revoir (but not goodbye) to our wonderful Senior Housing Solicitor Wendy Pettifer (pictured right) who is retiring from HCLC.

Wendy, a local Hackney resident since 1970, joined HCLC as a Senior Housing Solicitor in 2009. She had already served on HCLC's Management Committee (now the Board of Directors) between 1980 and 2007. Wendy chose to join HCLC after working in priva

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We are delighted to report that HCLC has passed our most recent formal audit with flying colours.

The audit was conducted by Lexcel England and Wales who carry out assessments for The Law Society. This is what the auditor who carried out HCLC's assessment wrote: "The Law Centre receives funding from a variety of sources including the Legal Services Commission, Hackney Council and Lon

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) is delighted to report that the 'Law for Good' hackathon, organised for HCLC by Legal Geek - the UK's largest tech community of groups of lawyers, entrepreneurs, techies and industry experts working together to disrupt, improve and innovate the traditional legal industry - was a complete success.

The event was Europe’s first ever law tech hackathon. O

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Legal Voice, the online magazine for professionals dedicated to access to justice, held its 2016 annual conference on Tuesday 1st March 2016.

HCLC's Miranda Grell spoke in the 'Social Media - what's the point?' workshop alongside Jeremy Hopkins, Client Relationship Manager at Obelisk Legal Support. You can watch the video recording of Miranda and Jeremy's full workshop and all the other

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HCLC are pleased to announce that Paul Erdunast, who has been an intern with HCLC since January, has been selected to participate in the finals of Channel 4's Countdown programme, which is its flagship TV game show involving word and number puzzles.

Countdown has been has been a firm TV favourite of university students up and down for the country since 1982. The programme involves two contesta which is its flagship TV game show involving word and number puzzles. Countdown has been has been a firm TV favourite of university students up and down for the country since 1982. The programme involves two contesta

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We are delighted to report that the 'A Place to Call Home' report that we published in December, in partnership with the Hackney Migrant Centre, has already been used to assist judicial review proceedings in court!

Just before Christmas, Birmingham Community Law Centre (BCLC) HCLC's sister law centre in Birmingham (and colleagues at the Asylum Support and Immigration Resource Team) were gr

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Hackney Community Law Centre is very grateful to Jimmy Vestbirk, the Founder of Legal Geek, for organising an exciting event later this spring, which is aimed at assisting HCLC and our sister law centres to deliver even greater access to justice through technology.

The ground-breaking legal ‘hackathon’ will pit computer programmers against each other to reach the best solution to legal tech

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HCLC is delighted to introduce Onika Phillip-Adams who is currently undertaking an internship with us. Onika (pictured left) joined the HCLC team in September 2015.

Since then, she has been working predominantly with HCLC's Senior Housing Solicitor Nathaniel Mathews on housing law cases. Onika has assisted Nathaniel with a variety of work including possession hearings, judicial reviews,

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SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM EVERYONE AT HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE!

Thank you for your support in 2015 and we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2016! We are closed from 1pm on Thursday 24th December 2015 until 10am on Monday 4th January 2016.

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Hackney Community Law Centre is looking for 3 dedicated people to join our team as HCLC interns in the week beginning January 25th 2015 until the week beginning April 11th 2016. Out internship is a three-month fixed pro

  (HCLC Patron Lord Low of Dalston CBE with current HCLC interns Primily Jo Malanum, Emily Messier,   Sorubiha Kamalanathan and Onika Philip-Adams at the House of Lords)

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) and Hackney Migrant Centre (HMC) are delighted to publish our new report: 'A Place To Call Home - A Report into the Standard of Accommodation provided to Children in Need in London'.

Since November 2014, lawyer, writer and human rights campaigner Charlotte Threipland has been conducting research for HCLC and HMC into the standard of accommodation provided t

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A public meeting to discuss Hackney's response to the refugee and migrant crisis and ongoing issues facing migrants locally has been called for 7.30pm on 30 November at Chats Palace, Brooksbys Walk, E9.

Various groups currently involved in the situation will be represented and Cllr Sophie Linden, Hackney’s Deputy Mayor, will speak on the Council’s work. This follows on from an emergenc

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*Click HERE to download a printable version of the invitation.* 

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HCLC is delighted to announce that on Monday 2nd of November 2015, our trainee solicitor Marie Froysa Hole (pictured right) was officially admitted to the Solicitor's Regulation Authority roll as a solicitor!

Marie first came to HCLC as a volunteer whilst a student. At that time, she assisted with the dedicated evening Welfare Benefits drop-in, which helped people to prepare for their ESA and

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"As a recent graduate in Law, from the University of Warwick, I decided to use some of my time to volunteer at Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC).

Volunteering once a week has allowed me to gain a remarkable insight into the excellent work that Hackney Law Centre is doing for its local community. During the last month, I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful solicitors and in

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On Tuesday 13th October 2015, the Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) team made our way up to the House of Lords to attend a reception hosted by our patron Lord Colin Low of Dalston CBE (pictured above) to celebrate the achievements of the Sustainable Advice in Hackney project.

The Sustainable Advice in Hackney project was a two-year  project funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Advice S

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The Law Society Gazette has reported on a pilot initiative we have undertaken with Wigwham Legal Services and 1 Gray's Inn Square Chambers to trial advising HCLC employment law clients through online legal advice surgeries.

On Wednesday the 16th of September, 1 Gray's Inn Square Employment Barrister Fergus McCombie advised eight people who had visited HCLC's offices to seek employment law a

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We are really grateful to our amazing former intern Toby Wheldon who managed to complete a one and a half mile sponsored swim  for HCLC, in France, on Saturday 15th August 2015!

Before the swim this is what Toby said about the demanding challenge: "For the last three months I have had the privilege of working with the Hackney Community Law Centre. Recent cuts to legal aid have put an i

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HCLC send our warmest congratulations to our patron, barrister Tunde Okewale (pictured second from left) on the fifth anniversary of the brilliant organisation he founded called Urban Lawyers.

Tunde founded Urban Lawyers in 2010 to assist aspiring solicitors and barristers from non traditional backgrounds enter the legal profession. On Thursday 17th September, HCLC's Miranda Grell, Bel

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HCLC is delighted to announce that Owen Jones has joined the HCLC team as our new patron!!!!!!

Owen, a high-profile political commentator for The Guardian, The New Statesman and author of best selling books Chavs and The Establishment (pictured above) joins HCLC patrons including Diane Abbott MP, Sir Tony Robinson, Lord Low of Dalston, Tunde Okewale, Jean Lambert MEP, Jon Robins, Declan O

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THE LAW CENTRE IS CURRENTLY INTERESTED IN RECRUITING LEGAL GRADUATES AS INTERNS & DAY VOLUNTEERS FOR THE PERIOD: 28 SEPTEMBER – 18 DECEMBER 2015

Volunteering commitment = 1 day per week for 12 weeks Intern commitment = 4 days per week for 12 weeks. Applications by CV and deadline for receipt is Sunday 6th September 2015. We confirm there are no career prospects attached to these positi

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HCLC is delighted to announce that Paul Dillane has joined Hackney Community Law Centre's Board of Directors!

Paul (pictured above) is the Executive Director of the UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG), the only national charity dedicated to supporting, and advocating for the rights of, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers. UKLGIG supports in e

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Are you an organisation that provides advice services in Hackney (or works with them)? Or are you a Hackney resident or someone who works in Hackney?

Are you interested in the ways that technology like the internet, mobile phones, apps can be used in advice services? Would you like to get involved in a project to develop ideas for technology that might help support and improve advice ser

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HCLC is very grateful to our wonderful patron Declan O'Callaghan for delivering a pro bono training session for the HCLC team on Immigration and Asylum Law on Tuesday the 30th of June 2015.

Declan became a HCLC Patron in 2012. He is barrister at Landmark Chambers specialising in public law, local government and international law. Declan is regularly instructed in a wide range of matters inclu

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We are delighted to welcome Justin Kraut from the University of Richmond School of Law to HCLC as our 2015 US summer intern.

For the past three summers, HCLC has hosted students from the University of Richmond School of Law (as well as other American universities) over the summer. The students have then gone on to take a summer course in law at the University of Cambridge before heading back

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Please find an electronic version of the 2014 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre available to read and download HERE.

If you would like to be emailed the PDF or receive a printed copy of the report please get in touch. Hard copies of the report will be available at HCLC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 7pm (6.30pm for food and refreshments) at

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Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 22 June 2015 at 7pm at The Salvation Army, 122-124 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0QR  *Please join us for buffet and refreshments from 6.30pm*

We are delighted that HCLC Patron Diane Abbott, the Member of Parliament for Hackney North & Stoke Newington, will be addressing the meeting as the k

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The Poppy Project was set up in 2003 to provide high-quality support, advocacy and accommodation to trafficked women; that is, women who have been brought into England or Wales to be exploited in some way.

This could include but is not limited to sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced illicit activities and organ harvesting. Support workers work with women to create individual support

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Hackney Community Law Centre is supportive of Hackney Council's attempts to curb anti-social behaviour in the local area but remain concerned that the Public Space Protection Order - which bans rough sleeping in a large part of Hackney - goes above and beyond this.

Breach of an order is a criminal offence and as a matter of principle we are opposed to the criminalisation of those who are ho

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On Monday 18th May 2015, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) participated in the 10th London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.

The 10km walk saw more than 10,000 walkers proceed through London, on foot, to raise funds for charities and law centres providing advice to some of London’s most vulnerable people. Please see some pics from the 2015 London Legal Walk below:

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Read HCLC Senior Solicitor Nathaniel Mathews' article for The Justice Gap about Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest HERE.

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We are absolutely delighted to report that on Wednesday 20th of May 2015, the United Kingdom Supreme Court allowed an appeal, lodged by HCLC on behalf of our client Ms Saba Haile, which sought to challenge the way local authorities have been interpreting the definition of 'intentional' homelessness.

Prior to the case of Haile v the London Borough of Waltham Forest (Haile) brought by HCLC

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Please find a statement from Tayyabah Ahmed, solicitor at Hackney Community Law Centre; Kerry Bretherton, Counsel at Tanfield Chambers; and Laura Tweedy of Hardwicke Chambers, regarding the legal implications of the UK Supreme Court judgment in Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2015] UKSC 34.

The statement is available to download HERE. Full background and HCLC reaction to the

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Please find You Tube footage of the UK Supreme Court judgment summary in Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest now up on YouTube HERE.  

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Hackney Community Law Centre would like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ian Lewis (pictured above) who was the Assistant Chief Executive of the London Borough of Hackney until last summer when he retired on health grounds.

Earlier this month, Ian sadly passed away after suffering with cancer. As the Assistant Chief Executive with responsibility fo

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HCLC is absolutely delighted to welcome Sara Taylor (pictured right) to the Centre as our new Housing Solicitor. Sara has a particular interest in human rights and possession proceedings. Sara has come to us from the wonderful Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre where she worked for nearly seven years. Before that, Sara worked a trainee solicitor at Merseyside Welfare Rights based in Liverpoo

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Check out this superb new video courtesy of the Legal Aid Team. Please also sign the petition and join the campaign to save legal aid!

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Diane Abbott, one of HCLC's patrons (pictured above), has written an article on the LabourList website calling for the Labour party to reverse the current Government cuts to legal aid if it wins the General Election on May the 7th.

In the article Diane says: "The cuts in legal aid are putting many inner city high street firms who relied on legal aid work out of business. It has also af

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Hackney Community Law Centre is very grateful to the wonderful barristers at Thomas Bingham Chambers for delivering a fantastic Immigration Law Community Information Session at Hackney Town Hall on the 25th Of March 2015.

The seminar, which was attended by 100 people representing 40 advice and community organisations from across London, covered immigration law topics such as Students, Europea

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HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE IS CURRENTLY INTERESTED IN RECRUITING LEGAL GRADUATES AS INTERNS & DAY VOLUNTEERS FOR THE PERIOD: 20 APRIL – 03 JULY 2015.

 

Ideal candidates must be able to commit to the internship for four days per week or as day volunteers for one day a week for the entire period. The internship is designed to give exposure to legal graduates who want some insight and e

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HCLC is delighted to introduce our two current interns Humairaa Fatima and Nargis Sultana (pictured above left and right, respectively, with Law Society President Andrew Caplen). Humairaa Fatima (pictured above left) has been a HCLC intern since January 2015.

Before she came to HCLC, Humairaa undertook a work placement with a solicitors from specialising in immigration, family law, employm

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) would like to thank Andrew Caplen, President of the Law Society of England and Wales (pictured above left) for visiting us on Thursday the 26th of February 2015 thus becoming the first ever serving Law Society President to visit a UK Law Centre! 

Andrew, who became Law Society President last July, was accompanied on the visit by his Law Society colleag

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Over the last year or so, our wonderful Patron human rights solicitor Louise Christian has been volunteering for HCLC.

Every week, Louise (pictured centre with HCLC Business Development Manager Miranda Grell, and HCLC Senior Immigration Caseworker Hilton von Herbert, at last year's Justice Alliance legal aid rally) has come to Hackney Community Law Centre to assist Hilton von Herbert with his

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We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Faegre Baker Daniels Foundation for making an extremely generous $2,500 donation to HCLC.

HCLC has worked with volunteer lawyers from Faegre Baker Daniels for a number of years on various pro bono projects. Since 2012, Faegre Baker Daniels, alongside Debevoise and Plimpton LLP, BPP Law School and the London Borough of Hackney libra

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HCLC is encouraging everyone who cares about the future of advice in the UK to take part in The Big Advice Survey, which launched in December last year.

The Big Advice Survey is a national survey conducted at a local level. It looks at how we deal with problems in our daily lives and where advice fits in. It also explores the potential for alternative ways of delivering advice services as w

...  [Read More]

SEASONS GREETINGS FROM EVERYONE AT HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE!

Thank you for your support in 2014 and we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2015! We are closed from 1pm on Wednesday 24th December 2014 until 10am on Friday 2nd January 2015.

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 We would like to thank the wonderful Hackney Umpires Cricket Club for donating the proceeds of sale from its 2014 Year Book to HCLC! 

We are touched by the team's support for the work that we do.   Receiving the donation is a really lovely way to end 2014. Merry Christmas to everyone at the Hackney Umpires Cricket Club!

 

Wishing the team great success in the 2015 cricket season!

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted that one of our Patrons Lord Low of Dalston (pictured left with HCLC Chair Ian Rathbone) has won Liberty’s Human Rights Campaign of the Year Award.

Lord Low received the award at a ceremony earlier this week. He said: “I was delighted to receive this award because it highlights our success in greatly extending the application of the Human Rights Act

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We are delighted to report that at the Law Centres Network's (LCN) annual conference 2014, which took place on Friday the 28th of November 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) Development Officer Miranda Grell was awarded the LCN's 'Reita Clarke Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement'. 

The award was created in memory of the late Reita Clarke, long-time Trustee of Luton Law Centre a

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HCLC solicitor Wendy Pettifer (pictured right) looks back over her long service to the community in housing matters and throws down a challenge – "when I retire, who will keep vulnerable families safe?"

"I started working in the legal field at a time when the BBC documentary 'Cathy Come Home' was still having its shocking impact on a society which had no idea how the other half lived and beca

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We are delighted to announce that Hackney Community Law Centre Chair Ian Rathbone has been shortlisted for the Guardian Newspaper's TRUSTEE OF THE YEAR AWARD!!!!

Ian (pictured above left at HCLC's London City Hall youth debate with Hughes Cousins-Chang, the 17 year old who changed the law on the treatment of 17 years olds in police custody) has been a HCLC trustee for 18 years, becoming Cha

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In May, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) took part in the 10th London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.

The London Legal Walk is a 10km sponsored walk around some of London’s legal landmarks. It is (probably!) the largest annual gathering of lawyers in the world. Walking in teams as their court, law firm, chambers or law school, walkers raise hundreds of thousands of pou

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HCLC is delighted to announce that following her shortlisting for in two categories of this year’s Law Society Excellence Awards, HCLC solicitor Diane Morrison (pictured below) beat off stiff competition to become this year’s ‘Solicitor of the year – in house!

' The winners of the 2014 Law Society Excellence Awards were selected by a panel of senior industry experts and repres

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Family Law Community Section...  [Read More]

On Friday 10th October 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre held a immigration law training session for clergy (religious and non-religious) from all over East London.  

Thirty curates, ministers and priests attended the event, which took place the St John at Hackney church, next door to HCLC's offices. The training session was run by Hilton von Herbert, senior supervising immigration casewor

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We are delighted to report that on Thursday 9th October 2014, Diane Morrison won the 'In House Solicitor of the Year' award at this year's Law Society Excellence Awards!!!

Reacting to the news that she has won the award, Diane (pictured above) said: “I am really pleased to win this award. It still hasn’t really sunk in. I feel that the award is a recognition of Hackney Community Law

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  HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE (in partnership with Hackney Migrant Centre) seeks Researcher:  for 6 month project to carry out strategic litigation research into the impact of recent and ongoing local authority decisions affecting the rights of children from migrant families to accommodation and support.

Rates: Ј125.00 per day up to a maximum of 50 days. Key duties: Liaise with

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The Guardian newspaper has published a hard hitting article about the effect that the Government's legal aid cuts are having on vulnerable people - particularly domestic violence victims.

Hackney Community Law Centre is mentioned in the article, which you can read HERE.

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We are delighted to report that Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf, one of our star volunteers who began volunteering with HCLC two years ago aged 14 (pictured right) has done extremely well in three of the GCSE exams he took a year early.

Over the summer, Jorrit, who's now nearly 16, was entered for GCSE exams in Latin, Music and German, a full year ahead of him completing Year 11 at school, which is th

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We are extremely grateful to Minister Andy Pakula (pictured above) and the congregation of local New Unity Unitarian church for raising funds for HCLC during the month of June.  

Every month New Unity, which is based in Stoke Newington, chooses a charity to support and the congregation make donations to help support the chosen cause.  In June, New Unity raised over Ј500 for HCLC.  On Sunday

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We are delighted to report that on Sunday the 31st of August 2014, Diane Morrison, HCLC solicitor, volunteer & intern co-ordinator, library pop-up shop advisor AND intrepid marathon runner (pictured above), successfully completed the Fulham and Putney riverside half marathon, as part of efforts to raise funds for HCLC and the London Legal Support Trust (LLST). The London Legal Support T

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HCLC patron and local Member of Parliament Diane Abbott (pictured above) has sent a letter to Diane Morrison congratulating her on her shortlisting in two categories of this year's 2014 Law Society Excellence Awards, which take place on October 9th. 

Read Diane A’s lovely letter to Diane M HERE. It's great for Diane M and the HCLC team to have such fantastic support from o

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HCLC is absolutely delighted to announce that our solicitor Diane Morrison has been shortlisted in two categories for this year's Law Society Excellence awards! The Law Society Excellence Awards celebrate excellence in the law.  

The achievements of individual lawyers and law firms from all over the country are recognised.  Diane has been shortlisted in the 'Junior Lawyer of the Year' a

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THE LAW CENTRE IS CURRENTLY RECRUITING LEGAL GRADUATES TO JOIN HCLC AS NEW VOLUNTEERS IN THE PERIOD: 7th September 2014 through to week ending December 12th 2014.

Ideal candidates must be able to commit for one day per week for the entire period. The volunteering slots are designed to give exposure to legal graduates who want some insight and experience of social welfare work and an appreciatio

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The Sustainable Advice in Hackney Project, led by HCLC, is pleased to launch www.hackneyadvice.org.uk, a comprehensive one-stop shop of advice services being delivered in the London Borough of Hackney.

DIRECTORY - The website has a directory of local advice services, enabling local people and advisors to look up the organisations most appropriate for them. To register your organisation and

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Andrew McGowan (pictured above) volunteered with HCLC for a month in June 2014.

Andrew is a PhD physics student who recently converted to studying law at the University of Richmond School of Law. Over the course of his internship with HCLC, Andrew worked closely with Senior Housing Solicitor Wendy Pettifer and was an invaluable member of our team. As well as his academic inter

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The Sustainable Advice in Hackney Project is pleased to invite you to a  'SOCIAL HOUSING COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSION'

The session will cover the Council’s new lettings policy including:   - who is and who is not eligible to be offered social housing;   - what criteria residents need to meet to be eligible for social housing;  - what checks the council will make when peopl

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On Monday 16th June 2014, HCLC's Chair, staff, interns, board members and patrons took part in the Justice Alliance Campaign's Magna Carta day protest against the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling's legal aid "reforms". June 15th marked the 799th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta Charter and so to raise awareness of the current threat to the UK's rule of law - as a result of the

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On Friday 20th June 2014 between 10.30am and 1pm, Hackney Community Law Centre will be delivering a free Pop-Up legal advice session (as part of Adult Learners' Week) at Clapton Library, Northwold Rd, London E5 8RN.  If you or someone you know has a legal problem they need help with then please pop in. Adult Learners Week is a national event running between 14-21 June 2014. In Hackney, Adult

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On Monday 19 May 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) participated in the 10th London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.  

The 10km walk saw more than 10,000 walkers proceed through London, on foot, to raise funds for charities and law centres providing advice to some of London's most vulnerable people. HCLC was really pleased and extremely grateful to be walking with

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HCLC is pleased to offer a specialist employment law drop-in advice service at the Centre every Wednesday morning.  

The service is funded by Trust for London.   Please download a leaflet with more information about the types of employment law problems we might be able to help you with HERE.

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HCLC is pleased to introduce our fabulous interns Ishaq Shah  and Ervin Gjoleka! Ishaq Shah (left of photo) became a HCLC intern since January 2014.  

Ishaq has been working exclusively with HCLC's Senior Immigration Advisor Hilton von Herbert on immigration and asylum cases. Two of the more complex cases Ishaq has been working on have involved non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals wh

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A disabled couple are celebrating after HCLC Benefits Caseworker Marie Froysa Hole (pictured right) helped them to win a Ј10,000 payout from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The client was a disabled Polish national who tried to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) but had been refused on the basis that he did not meet the 'habitual residence test'.  HCLC appealed the DWP's

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On Tuesday 1st April, HCLC Housing Solicitor Tayyabah Ahmed (pictured above) attended a special 'Ask The Expert' event at the House of Commons hosted by Stella Creasy, the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow. Since April 2013, HCLC has been running a housing advice service in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, including operating a special housing law drop-in service at Lea Bridge Library ev

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The London Borough of Hackney has produced a new guide called 'What you need to know about renting from a private landlord'.

The guide explains how the Council can help privately-renting tenants, as well as information on the legal rights and also responsibilities of tenants and landlords. Read and download the guide HERE.

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The Money Advice Service is an independent service set up by the government to help people manage their money better. It has just published new information about the Universal Credit benefit.

The information contains five animated videos to help claimants understand different aspects of Universal Credit including: How to choose a bank account; How to open a bank account; How to

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On Monday 24th February 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to have Maurice Wren address our Annual General Meeting as  its Guest Speaker.  

Maurice (pictured above) is the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, a leading UK charity working directly with refugees and asylum seekers and supporting them to rebuild their lives.  Maurice gave a stimulating and detailed talk of aroun

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On Wednesday 19th February 2014, HCLC Housing Solicitors Wendy Pettifer (pictured right) and Tayyabah Ahmed joined other charities and housing campaigners working in Waltham Forest to examine the issue of ‘Street’ Homelessness in the borough.

Since April 2013, HCLC has been providing housing advice in Waltham Forest as there is currently no Law Centre in the borough. The seminar was hosted

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Please find an electronic version of the 2013 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre available to read and download HERE.

If you would like to be emailed the PDF or receive a printed copy of the report please get in touch. Hard copies of the report will be available at HCLC's Annual General Meeting on Monday 24th February 2014, 7pm at the Salvation Army, 122 Lower Clapton Roa

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On Thursday 23rd January 2014, representatives of Hackney's advice agencies, the local council, corporate partners, sister law centres and advice agency volunteers, attended the official launch of Hackney's Big Lottery Funded 'Sustainable Advice in Hackney' project.  

The launch was hosted by the Turkish and Kurdish Halkevi Community Centre.  The Big Lottery set up the nationwide Advice Servic

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Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place at : The Salvation Army, 122-124 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0QR On Monday 24 February 2014 between 7pm and 9pm.

We are delighted that Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, will be addressing the meeting as the key note speaker. You can download the meeting notice here and a nomination form t

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HCLC is delighted to welcome James Krumrey-Quinn as a new intern.  

James (pictured right) comes from Australia where he was called to the New South Wales Supreme Court in July 2012. In Australia, James volunteered as a clerk to a Judge in the Supreme Court of South Australia and was also an intern at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in Accra, Ghana, where he attended police stations to

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On Monday 6th January 2014, HCLC staff and interns joined barristers, solicitors and campaigners from all over the country to protest at  Government proposals to make even more cuts to criminal legal aid.

This was the first time ever in the history of the Criminal Bar, that practising barristers had walked out of court, en mass, to take industrial action. HCLC was represented at the prote

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Name of event: ‘Demonstration – Save Legal Aid’ Date: Monday 06 January 2014 Time: 9.30am – 10.30am Place: Westminster Magistrates Court, 181 Marylebone Road, NW1

More information HERE!    

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SEASONS GREETINGS FROM EVERYONE AT HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE!

Thank you for your support in 2013 and looking forward to continuing to work with you in 2014! We are closed from 1pm on Tuesday 24th December 2013 until 10am on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

...  [Read More]

HACKNEY COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE seeks a new: Housing and Welfare Benefits Caseworker:

 

Salary - Ј25,000 Key duties: • To provide a comprehensive housing and welfare benefits advice service • To provide specialist casework and representation in housing law and welfare benefits • To deliver a housing advice service under a LAA housing contract. The successful candidate will have specia

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HCLC is delighted to announce that Tunde Okewale, currently a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, has accepted our invitation to become a Patron of Hackney Community Law Centre.

Tunde grew up in Hackney and attended Orchard Primary School and Cardinal Pole Secondary School, which is literally around the corner from HCLC's office in Lower Clapton Road. Tunde is a committed criminal defenc

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The Hackney Advice Services Transition Fund  project requires the following:

Training and Development Supervisor (Full time) - recruited by East End Citizens Advice Bureaux Salary Ј30,000 (inclusive of LW) Fixed term – 2 years from start date You will: lead in recruiting and be able to train volunteers using the Citizens Advice certificated training programme; provide a range o

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HCLC is pleased to announce that we are leading the Hackney Big Lottery Advice Services Transition Fund (ASTF).

The Big Lottery set up the nationwide Advice Services Transition Fund to enable local not-for-profit advice providers to continue providing advice to their local communities. The Big Lottery wishes the two-year funding to be used to help the not-for-profit sector transform and a

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HCLC is really pleased to support the publication of a new cookbook aimed at raising funds for our friends and colleagues at the Hackney Migrant Centre and North London Action for the Homeless.

Helena Smith's 'Eat Hackney' cook book, as featured in the Hackney Gazette and Hackney Citizen newspapers, features 30 mouth watering recipes, reflecting the national dishes of the many different c

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Thanks to the London Borough of Hackney who have provided us with special funding, HCLC is delighted to welcome Marie Froysa Hole (pictured right) to the Centre as our new Benefits Caseworker.

Marie studied International Relations at the London School of Economics before undertaking a Graduate Diploma in law at BPP Law School. She also completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College o

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HCLC is very pleased to welcome three new members to our Board of Directors.

Victor McAllister, Andrew Wingfield, and Dwyane Fields all bring immense experience and expertise to the Board. Victor McAllister (pictured above) is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation (HCEO) based in Stoke Newington. Victor was born in Guyana before moving to Hackney

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HCLC is very pleased to have teamed up with the Big Voice London project to respond to the Home Office's latest consultation on police 'stop and search' powers.

Big Voice London was launched in January 2011 to compliment the Supreme Court’s outreach work.   It is volunteer-led and volunteers are generally post-graduate law students committed to youth access.  Big Voice is unique in the

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If your rent is not met in full by housing benefit and you have a temporary situation which makes it difficult to pay your rent, you can apply to Hackney Council for extra help in the form of discretionary housing payments (DHPs).

To qualify for a payment you must be receiving housing benefit, and need to satisfy Hackney Council that there are very good reasons for an award. Discreti

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The Refugee Council has launched three new drop-in services to help provide practical advice and support to destitute asylum seekers, including advice and support on health, a meal, and emergency provisions at three different drop-in centres each week.

These services provided at: 1. Central London Day Centre in partnership with West London Mission. 19 Thayer Street, London W1U 2QJ Monday

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HCLC patron and local Member of Parliament Diane Abbott (pictured above) has sent a letter to Hilton von Herbert congratulating him on winning the 2013 Immigration Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year' award. 

Read Diane's lovely letter to Hilton HERE. And read Hilton's response to Diane HERE.

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Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards....  [Read More]

Meg Hillier MP, the Law Centre's local Member of Parliament and HCLC Patron (pictured above), spoke in the backbench debate on legal aid that took place in Parliament on Thursday 27th June 2013.

Read the full transcript of Meg's speech below: Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op): I want to talk about the impact of the proposals, the process and the politics of the situ

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On Wednesday June 19th 2013, at a special awards ceremony at the Royal College of Surgeons, our ‘Dalston Pop-Up’, our dedicated evening debt and consumer law advice service, in partnership with BPP Law School; Debevoise and Plimpton LLP; Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Law Works; and the London Borough of Hackney Libraries Service, won the Law Works Pro Bono Award 2013 for 'Best Partnership

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HCLC is delighted to welcome three new interns from the University of Richmond and George Mason University following a successful placement by Danielle Brown, another US student last year.  

Havlin, Sheherezade and Jordan are spending the summer with HCLC shadowing solicitors and caseworkers to gain an in-depth experience of our work. Read a little about each of them below: Sheherezade M

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On Monday May 20th 2013, Hackney Community Law Centre participated in the 2013 London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.  

Last year’s walk saw more than 6000 people take part and more than Ј500,000 raised! The London Legal Walk is a 10km sponsored walk around some of London’s legal landmarks.  It is (probably!) the largest annual gathering of lawyers in the world.

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Staff, solicitors, caseworkers, volunteers and interns at HCLC are celebrating our ‘Dalston Pop-Up’, our dedicated evening debt and consumer law advice service, in partnership with BPP Law School; Debevoise and Plimpton LLP; Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Law Works; and the London Borough of Hackney Libraries Service, our Dalston Pop-Up dedicated debt and consumer service being shortliste

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HCLC is delighted to welcome Tayyabah Ahmed (pictured right) to the centre as our new housing solicitor. Tayyabah has been a qualified solicitor since August 2008.  She completed her training at a private practice firm in Paddington. Tayyabah’s main areas of specialism include housing, civil and family law, and she generally prefers to do her own advocacy at court as she has completed Hig

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We are very pleased to announce that Hilton von Herbert, our superb Senior Immigration Caseworker, has been shortlisted in this year's Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards!!!!!

Hilton (pictured second left with client Kusi); Declan O’Callaghan, HCLC Patron and immigration barrister (far right); and Declan’s wife Jacqueline (centre) at HCLC's 2012 summer reception - has been shortlis

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We are delighted to announce that ‘Dalston Pop-Up’, our dedicated evening debt and consumer law advice service, in partnership with BPP Law School; Debevoise and Plimpton LLP; Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Law Works; and the London Borough of Hackney Libraries Service, has won a 2013 inaugural Halsbury Legal Award!!!! The Halsbury Legal Awards celebrate excellence in the law and

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‘It was a lonely experience,’ said Hughes Cousins-Chang , describing being strip-searched and held in custody for over 12 hours, without being allowed to contact his mother.

Hughes, a sixth-form student, and his friend were arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on a 57 bus outside Tooting Broadway underground last April. It was shortly after his 17th birthday. The High Court last week o

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We are delighted to announce that we have now launched a new text message service for young people from Hackney!

Young people aged 16-25 from Hackney, who need help with a homelessness or welfare benefits problem, will now be able to text HCLC direct and receive a call back from us to find out how we can help them. All the young person needs to do is text the word 'advice' to 07860 017 253.

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‘Next Generation – Rights and Responsibilities’ - A debate about what the law means to young people in 21st Century Britain.  

Please join us! Date: Monday April 29th 2013 Time: 6.30pm – 8pm Venue: London’s Living Room, London City Hall, Queens Walk, London SE1 1AA Nearest tube/rail: London Bridge The JusticeGap (www.justicegap.com) has joined forces with Hackney Comm

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In April 2013, the Government made major changes to the welfare benefits scheme.  There are several changes and the impact upon you will depend on your personal circumstances.

Below is a list of the changes that have been made: Under Occupation – Spare bedroom (s) From April 2013, Housing Benefit has been reduced for working age people living in council and Housing Association properti

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We are delighted to announce that, with the help of students and pro bono staff from BPP Law School, we have now launched a new service to help people fill out their Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) forms.

ESA and DLA application forms can prove very difficult to fill out correctly.  We want to make sure that any resident in Hackney who is entitled to r

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Wendy Pettifer, HCLC Senior Housing Solicitor, (pictured right) spoke at the Campaign for Benefit Justice conference, which took place at Birbeck University on the 9th of Match 2013.

Wendy chaired the Workshop on ‘Legal Remedies to challenge the benefits cuts’ with Liz Davies, barrister of Garden Court Chambers and speakers from the Mental Health Resistance network. Wendy's speaking no

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‘Mind the Justice Gap' is our joint Public Legal Education project in partnership with the Justice Gap, the UCL Centre for Access to Justice and the Hackney Council of Voluntary Services.  

The project is aimed at young people and is to help explain their legal rights and demystify the law. Mind the JusticeGap will be an online advice guide about the law aimed at young people informed directl

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We are deeply honoured that Andrew Caplen, current Deputy Vice President of the Law Society, chose to make his first-ever visit to a UK Law Centre on Thursday by visiting HCLC!

Andrew, who was accompanied by Morag Goldfinch, London Regional Manager of the Law Society, spent an hour and a half at the Centre talking to staff and volunteers about HCLC's work and the current challenges facing ou

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The National Housing Federation has produced a comprehensive leaflet which sets out the changes to housing benefit and provides advice and information for tenants.

You can download a copy of the leaflet HERE.

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We are delighted to announce that 'Dalston Pop-Up', our dedicated evening debt and consumer law advice service, in partnership with BPP Law School; Debevoise and Plimpton LLP; Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Law Works; and the London Borough of Hackney Libraries Service , has been shortlisted for a Halsbury Legal Award! The Halsbury Legal Awards celebrate excellence in the law and great contri

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We were delighted to welcome Jean Lambert MEP (pictured right) to the Centre on Friday 15th February 2013. Jean, who is a Member of the European Parliament representing London, became a Patron of HCLC in March of last year. During the visit to the Law Centre, Jean met our caseworkers, volunteers and interns and heard about one case in which a care leaver HCLC had helped with a housing iss

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Since September, Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf (pictured right) has been volunteering with HCLC every Monday evening after school.

Jorrit, who is 14 years old, lives in Hackney and attends the City of London Boys School. Jorrit got in touch with the Law Centre about becoming a volunteer because he says he finds law very interesting and he also wanted to carry out some voluntary work as part of his

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HCLC Solicitor backs campaign to save Vadim Kuramshin....  [Read More]

We are delighted to announce that, following the 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Hackney Community Law Centre, which took place on Monday 28th January 2013, we now have three fantastic new Board Members in Mary-Rachel McCabe, Elizabeth Ladipo and Adenike Ojo (pictured left to right).

After graduating in Law with Spanish from the University of Sussex, Mary-Rachel (pictured left) spent six m

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Please find an electronic version of the 2012 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre available to read and download HERE.

If you would like to be emailed the PDF or receive a printed copy of the report please get in touch.

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Introducing Immigration Volunteer Lizzette!

Since October, Lizzette Robletto-Gonzalez has volunteered with HCLC to assist us with our immigration and asylum casework.  Lizzette came to the UK in 1995 from Nicaragua.   As well as doing her placement with HCLC, Lizette also has a full time job as a Policy and Advocacy officer for 'Progressio', a non-governmental organisation worki

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Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place at : The Salvation Army, 122-124 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0QR On Monday 28 January 2013 between 7.00pm and 9.00pm

For further details email : info@hclc.org.uk/ bella@hclc.org.uk or call 0208 985 5236

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Hackney Community Law Centre is now seeking to recruit two suitable people for our intern programme. Applicants must be able to attend at least 4 days per week for a total of 12 weeks and will ideally have completed their LL.B, GDL, LPC or BPTC courses and are about to consider looking for pupillages or training contracts. Interested applicants should be able to start with us at the begi

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'Mind the Justice Gap' is our joint Public Legal Education project in partnership with the Justice Gap, the University College London’s Centre for Access to Justice and the Hackney Council of Voluntary Services.  

The project is aimed at young people and is to help explain their legal rights and demystify the law.  Mind the JusticeGap will be an online advice guide about the law aimed at y

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 On Wednesday 21st November, HCLC was delighted to welcome Lord Willy Bach (pictured left) and one of our fantastic patrons Jon Robins, editor of the Justice Gap (pictured right) to the Centre.  

Lord Bach, a former barrister, who has served as both Justice Minister in Government and Shadow Justice Minister in opposition, has been a staunch supporter and defender of Law Ce

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We are delighted to report that following the successful completion of her Legal Practice Course (LPC), Diane Morrison, who has worked at Hackney Community Law Centre as a generalist advisor and then a trainee solicitor, has now formally qualified as a solicitor.

Diane Morrison joined the Law Centre as a typist in May 2005 (initially on a part time basis). She then qualified as a Generalist Adv

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HCLC is delighted to announce that following our shortlisting for two of this year’s Law Society Excellence Awards, HCLC solicitor Paul Heron (pictured below) beat off stiff competition to win this year's ‘Solicitor of the year – in house’ category!  

HCLC was also shortlisted in the ‘Excellence in Innovation’ category following the launch of our Community Law Shops ‘pop-up’

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Hackney Community Law Centre is delighted to announce that we are now offering a new evening 'Pop-Up' Debt and Consumer Law advice service to people living and working in Hackney.

The high quality free legal service will provide assistance to people requiring help with consumer and debt problems. To access the service, people who live or work in Hackney must call 020 7633 4531 and leave thei

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On Thursday 11th October 2012, HCLC held a campaign and training workshop to raise awareness of the growing problem of illegal evictions in the last two years.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the problem may have doubled over the last two years. Examples that the Law Centre has seen recently include: A refugee who was beaten up by the estate agent and was evicted on 24 hours notice A

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HCLC is very pleased to welcome new volunteer Lorna Antonio (pictured left) to the Law Centre.

Lorna is doing her placement with HCLC through the Choice in Hackney voluntary organisation, which provides Advocacy and Independent Living Services to disabled people in London. Lorna suffers from dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dicalculus but despite having to live with and manage these conditio

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We are delighted to announce that Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) has been shortlisted for two of this year’s Law Society Excellence Awards!

HCLC has been shortlisted in the ‘Excellence in Innovation’ category following the launch of our  Community Law Shops ‘pop-up’ advice service, which takes place every Monday between 2pm and 5pm in Hackney Central Library. HCLC solicito

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We have joined forces with the Justice Gap, the University College London’s Centre for Access to Justice and the Hackney Council of Voluntary Services to work on a major public legal education (PLE) project aimed at young people explaining legal rights and demystifying the law.

The initiative (called Mind the JusticeGap) – backed by human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC and the fo

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Just over one year on from last August's riot, it is time for us, as a community, to reflect on where we are, and what steps we need to take as a community.

Inspire Hackney will be part art, part workshops and a lot of fun. Working with a range of partner organisations, Hackney Unites will take the time to explore what community organising is and how it can help us to address issues such

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The Every Child in Need Campaign has made excellent progress in recent weeks.  

The campaign concerns the consultation which has commenced in relation to the Department for Education’s proposed changes to the statutory guidance concerning children in need. A campaign and information meeting was held on 26th July at Doughty Street Chambers, following the launch of the website. The follo

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The Community Law Shops service will resume at 2pm on Monday 3rd September 2012 in Hackney Central library.

The service operates between 2pm and 5pm every Monday afternoon at Hackney Central library.

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Hackney Community Law Centre is very grateful to our Patron Lord Low of Dalston (pictured above) for hosting our 2012 Friends of HCLC summer reception at the House of Lords.  

The reception saw people and organisations from all walks of life come together  to celebrate the work of the Law Centre.  All guests invited had a close and special connection to HCLC as either clients, staff, interns,

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Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to host a joint debate with the Justice Gap team on Thursday 12th July 2012 in the House of Commons entitled 'Justice in the Community: do we get it?'.  

The debate brought together a high profile panel from the legal, community and political arenas and was chaired by Jon Robins (pictured above centre), HCLC Patron and editor of the Justice Gap.  W

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We are delighted that high profile actor and television presenter Tony Robinson has joined Hackney Community Law Centre as a Patron!

Tony Robinson was born in Hackney at the Homerton Hospital and  lived in Amhurst Road, near Hackney Downs in Lower Clapton. Among other professional successes, Tony starred in the BBC's popular Blackadder television programme as the well-known character '

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The JusticeGap together with Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) is hosting a debate at the House of Commons on the role of the advice sector in communities in the context of forthcoming legal aid cuts.

The debate will be chaired by Jon Robins, HCLC Patron and editor of the www.thejusticegap.com. The panelists include: Diane Abbott, HCLC Patron and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newi

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Hackney Community Law Centre is extremely grateful to Turner Broadcasting for helping us begin repainting our offices, in order to make the Centre a more welcoming and pleasant environment for our clients and local community.

On Friday 15th June 2012, a team of volunteers from the Turner Broadcasting London's office spent the entire day at HCLC completely repainting the kitchen, our volunte

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On Monday June 11th 2012, Hackney Community Law Centre launched our new Community Law Shops service. In the first instance, the  walk-in, 'pop-up' services will operate between 2pm and 5pm every Monday at Hackney Central library.  The sessions are kindly sponsored by the London Borough of Hackney and Matrix Chambers. At the Community Law Shop sessions, Hackney residents will be able to s

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HCLC is delighted to welcome Danielle Brown to the Centre as an overseas intern.

Danielle Brown is postgraduate law student from the University of Richmond in Virginia on the east coast of the United States of America.  Danielle is spending a month with HCLC as a legal intern before travelling to Cambridge to participate in a special University of Cambridge programme for overseas law students.

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Choice in Hackney, the voluntary organisation which provides Advocacy and Independent Living Services to disabled people in London, is looking for participants to take part in its popular 12 week training course in Disability Advocacy and Advice.

As part of the course, participants undertake a 6-8 week work experience placement with a London employer. Hackney Community Law Centre is commit

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On Monday May 21st 2012, Hackney Community Law Centre was extremely proud to participate in the 2012 London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.  

This year's walk saw more than 6000 people take part and more than Ј500,000 raised! The London Legal Walk is a 10km sponsored walk around some of London’s legal landmarks.  It is (probably!) the largest annual gathering of

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Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to participate in the 2012 Hackney Adult Learners Week, an annual event, funded by the Skills Funding Agency, which brings together a wide range of education and learning providers in Hackney to deliver exciting and inspirational free workshops for people who wish to learn something new or brush up on existing skills.  

The festival programme was c

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Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to participate in the College of Law's high profile 'Diversity at the Bar' debate held on Monday 16th April 2012.

The event saw a panel of eminent legal figures including Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Rolande Anderson, Chair of the Bar Standards Board's Equality and Diversity Committee, discuss equality and diversity at the Bar. You can watch

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HCLC Chair Ian Rathbone writes for new website 'Legal Voice'.

We are on the cusp of what we consider a law centre revolution. Serving a deprived but vibrant community in East London for almost 40 years, Hackney Community Law Centre has been considered part of Hackney’s furniture, writes Ian Rathbone. Now every day, however, we are confronted by the prospect of our demise and very survival.

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Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to take part in the Guardian newspaper's 'Live Justice' blogging experiment, where journalists tweeted live from courts across London.  

The point of this groundbreaking journalistic exercise was to try and demystify what goes on in our courtrooms to people who might not have had any experience of the courts system. On Tuesday 3rd April, the journalist

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BPP Law School is now offering a free telephone adviceline for people with employment law related problems. Clients can call the line at any time and leave a message with their name and number.   Student volunteers then call them back to gather some basic information.   This information is then referred onto a volunteer employment lawyer who calls the client back to give some advice on

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The Young Legal Aid Lawyers organisation has produced an interesting report on the impact of the legal aid changes on MPs’ caseloads.  

The report, launched in Parliament next week, finds that the caseloads will very likely go up. Read a summary of the report HERE and the full report HERE.  

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC), the charity, which provides free and independent legal advice and representation to residents in Hackney, has gained its first official set of patrons.  

HCLC, which faces large cuts to its budget as a result of Government changes to legal aid, has approached a number of well-known public figures in the legal, political and entertainment worlds to se

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The Newham Monitoring Project’s (NMP) FAIR Project provides FREE training and workshops, and aims to raise awareness around issues of race & faith hate crime - from low level harassment in the home to escalating levels of violent crime.

The FAIR project will also address: Any form of discrimination faced in daily life whilst accessing statutory services etc. – i.e. within housing/ed

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The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) is now offering a telephone adviceline service for undocumented migrants on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am - and 1pm.

Download a flyer with more information HERE.

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HCLC Chair Ian Rathbone responds to Ken Clarke after BBC Radio 4's ‘Law in Action’ programme (broadcast Tuesday February 21st 2012)

Last night as I listened to Kenneth Clarke, the Justice minister on the BBC iPlayer talking to Joshua Rozenberg on Radio 4?s ‘Law in Action – Legal aid changes: long overdue reform or denial of justice?‘ programme I noticed that on screen underneath was

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Hackney Community Law Centre has launched a new advice service for young people aged 16-24. 

We are working alongside advice & advocacy workers from the Off Centre in Hackney Grove, and the Springboard Hackney organisation, which is based at the The Levy Centre in Lower Clapton Road, to provide specialist legal advice on issues such as: Homeless applications Renting in the private secto

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Matrix Chambers has made a significant donation to support the setting up of ‘Community Law Shops’ in Hackney.

Through its ‘Causes Fund’, Matrix has pledged to pay towards the expenses of volunteer solicitors staffing the proposed Hackney Community Law Centre’s ‘Community Law Shops’ for their first two years of operation.   The provision of extra solicitors and casework

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A carer mum and her vulnerable autistic son can remain living in Hackney, thanks to the work of the Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC).

Three years ago, HCLC - the charity which provides free and independent legal advice and representation to residents in Hackney - took on the case of Mrs Ama and her 23 year old son (pictured right). Mrs Ama’s son is autistic, has mental health problems a

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From The Guardian -  There is a link between the welfare reform bill and the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders (Laspo) bill, and it is not simply the inspiring challenges that the Lords have made to both.

At the moment, someone denied a benefit can obtain free legal advice on whether, and how, they should appeal to a tribunal against the refusal. The success rate for appellant

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The Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA) has proposed a number of amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is going through the House of Lords.

If the bill were signed into law as it currently stands, it would abolish Legal Aid for immigration matters - mainly relating to exclusions to Judicial Review for immigration matters. Click HERE t

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A Kings College London (KCL) report finds that changes proposed in the Legal Aid,Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will save less than half of the Ј270million predicted by the Government - though denying justice to thousands of vulnerable people, say critics.

The report, commissioned by The Law Society of England and Wales, analysed the proposed changes to family, social welfare and c

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Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, have published a new report revealing that homeless people in England die 30 years younger than the national average.

The report, entitled 'Homelessness: a silent killer' finds that an average homeless person has a life expectancy of 47, compared with 77 for the rest of the population. To read Crisis' report, please click HERE.

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Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) has a new pair of hands directing its activities in representing the poor and marginalised of Hackney.

Sean Canning (pictured above middle), takes over from current manager Matt Howgate (pictured above right) at a crucial time as the law centre continues to lead the fight against swingeing legal aid cuts. Mr Canning has been manager of the North Kensin

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Hackney Community Law Centre held its 2011 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday 5th December 2011 ay Hackney Town Hall.

The meeting, which was well attended by interested local Hackney residents, received reports from Cllr Rathbone as the 2010-2011 Chair of HCLC and a Manager's Report from outgoing interim manager, Matthew Howgate. The AGM also approved HCLC's accounts for the year 201

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A warm welcome to Hackney Community Law Centre's new website!

Whether you are a potential client in need, a law student or a journalist covering developments in legal aid, we hope you will find our new website easy to navigate and that you find the information you are looking for. Just as we believe in access to justice for everyone regardless of their economic or social status, so we hope tha

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