Children’s legal assistance research contributes to policy discussions and reform

We are pleased to release an extensive suite of research reports on children’s legal assistance that will inform policy discussions across a range of areas following engagement with the profession and stakeholders to gage their views.

The research presents a unique set of perspectives to the ongoing redesign of the Children’s Hearings System, incorporating the development of these within the new framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as well as insights for legal aid reform, including Scottish Government’s current Legal Aid Reform Discussion Paper.

We explored the experience of both adult clients receiving children’s legal assistance and solicitors who supply the service.

Both solicitors and clients highlighted the importance of word of mouth or recommendations for potential clients to find solicitors with the skill and capacity to take on children’s legal assistance cases. The impact of not having this insight readily available could be frustrating and detrimental to prospective clients.

Solicitors and clients alike also recognised that there were different aspects of support being provided, from explaining the jargon of processes and legal terms to the act of representation in the hearing itself and ensuring legal compliance. Clients were generally positive about their experiences of support.

Solicitors expressed concerns generally about the future of supply but when firm partners were asked about their own resource, three-quarters of respondents thought it likely that their firm would be providing children’s legal assistance in the coming years.

Clients had a variety of recommendations that speak to the redesign of legal aid and the workings of the Children’s Hearings System. These insights provide a rare perspective from a group with lived experience of these critical areas.

The suite of reports are available on our Research publications page.

Further information

Please contact our Research team at research@slab.org.uk.