HCLC News

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

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

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:

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

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

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

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.  

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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