LSA Annual Conference : Fighting Injustice, Enforcing Rights

OBJECTIVES

This conference aims to highlight cutting edge legal remedies that everybody concerned by fighting poverty, discrimination, homelessness and injustice needs to know about.

Fighting injustice in new ways.

This is LSA’s Annual Conference and, accordingly, the workshops will particularly look at LSA’s work in these fields though not, of course, exclusively so.

Participants will not only learn about new remedies but also learn something about how to actually pursue them. However in general if they wish to do so they will be alerted to either where to refer clients to or to further learning: which of course will generally be available from LSA’s extensive seminar programme.

PARTICIPANTS

Are the most vulnerable missing out on enforcing rights? If the answer to this question interests you, then this is the conference for you!

The conference will, accordingly, be of interest to community activists, advice workers, CAB staff and volunteers, local authority staff, law centres as well as, solicitors and advocates.

The conference may also be of interest to policy makers.

Finally the conference will be of interest to everybody who may wish to keep in touch with the work of law centres in general and LSA in particular.

PROGRAMME

9.30-10.00Registration and Coffee

Morning session chaired by Paul Brown, Principal Solicitor, Legal Services Agency

10.00-10.05 Welcome from Councillor Rhiannon Spear, Glasgow City Council, Representative LSA’s Board of Directors - TBC

10.05-10.45 KEYNOTE 1: What litigation can achieve? This talk will particularly look at human rights and public law litigation that has changed the world. Talk by Sheriff Simon Collins, Temporary High Court Judge, former Solicitor, LSA’s Mental Health Legal Service

10.45-11.15 KEYNOTE 2: How has Public Law developed to meet new challenges? How may it develop in the future? Ideas for pursuing new remedies (and winning): talk by Professor Tom Mullen, former Convenor, LSA Board of Directors

11.15-11.30 Discussion and questions

11.30-11.45 Tea/Coffee

11.45-1.15WORKSHOPS

• New arguments in Tackling Homelessness. Presentation by Rona Macleod, Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department
• Fighting Discrimination in Social Security: getting compensation. A discussion of developing an equalities law approach to discrimination in the way that the social security system operates. Presentation by Kirsti Nelson, Deputy Head of Department, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department
• Making the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme really work: an update on recent changes, recent pitfalls and recent successes by Hannah Goldsmith, Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department and Paul Brown, Principal Solicitor, LSA
• Additional Support Needs Tribunals. Presentation by Seonaid Cavanagh, Trainee Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department. Formerly of a national education law unit. Vulnerable children have a wide range of educational rights. Sometimes you need to fight to get them
• The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003: Named Persons and Listed Initiators – Do the changes provide adequate safeguards for patients and their rights? Presentation by Ronnie Franks, Partner, LSA’s Mental Health Legal Service

1.15-2.00Lunch (provided)

2.00-3.30WORKSHOPS

• Using human rights and Scots common law to tackle air pollution. There is now wide spread recognition that particulate pollution, particularly from diesel vehicles, among other sources, is a major source of excess deaths and other major health impacts. Children are particularly affected. What remedies may be available for individuals, and indeed, groups to tackle both the source of pollution as well as inadequacies in enforcementy? Presentation by Dr Ben Christman, Trainee Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department
• What’s happening with Law Centres in Scotland? Law Centres are on the up. There are now 10 law centres, or law centre type organisations. What do they do? What is the funding regime? and Where may Legal Aid go? Presentation by Angus McIntosh, Director, Castlemilk Law Centre and Candy Walker, Manager, Govan Law Centre. Chaired by Barrie Levine, Convenor of LSA’s Board of Directors
• Making sure all defences in Eviction cases are fielded: in civil litigation, being threatened with losing your house is second only to being threatened with losing your children for the stress and impact that a negative result can have. This workshop will look at all the defences available ranging from technical to substantive including equalities arguments. Presentation by Siobhan Johnson, Solicitor and Vicki Pirie, Solicitor, both of LSA’s Housing and General Court Department
• Adults with Incapacity, protecting the rights of the adult throughout the guardianship process. Presentation by Carrie-Anne Clifford, Partner, Brown & Co Legal LLP, LSA’s Mental Health Legal Service, Edinburgh and the East
• Brexit and Rights of EU Nationals. Presentation by Mark Lazarowicz, Advocate

3.30-3.45Tea/Coffee

Afternoon session chaired by Barrie Levine, Convenor of LSA’s Board of Directors

3.45-4.15Topic to be confirmed: Presentation by Lesley Irvine, Advocate

4.15-4.30Discussion and Close

4.30-5.00LSA’s AGM (open to all. Votes only: LSA Members)

5.00-6.30Wine Reception Social – Welcome by Professor Colin Porteous OBE, Chair of the Steering Committee that set up LSA in 1989 and the first Convenor of the Board of Directors

NOTE: The Social will take place in The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, Glasgow, G2 4NG. It is compulsory.

SPEAKERS

Paul Brown is Principal Solicitor, Legal Services Agency and has written and lectured in Criminal Injuries Compensation cases for many years. He was a member of the Team in Monica Allan’s successful case going to the Supreme Court. He has written on CICA for the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, Scolag, and LAG. He has represented many victims in disputed CICA cases at the First Tier Tribunal and at Judicial Review. His books on the subject include a Digital Handbook on the 2012 Scheme (under revisal) and Claiming Criminal Injuries Compensation (Brown & Hiram 1997 LSA). He has other interests which have included defended eviction and child law. He has held a number of public appointments.

Councillor Rhiannon Spear, Glasgow City Council, Councillor for Greater Pollok.

Simon Collins QC initially worked as a solicitor in LSA’s Mental Health Legal Representation Project in Edinburgh. After going to the Bar he specialised in social welfare and human rights law, acting for applicants in numerous leading and test cases at all levels, including in the Supreme Court. He was appointed a judge of the First Tier Tribunal, Social Entitlement Chamber in 2012, a Sheriff of Tayside, Central and Fife in 2015, and a Temporary Judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary in 2018.

Professor Tom Mullen specialises in Public Law at Glasgow University and has written and lectured extensively on judicial review, administrative law and constitutional issues. At the start of his career, he volunteered at Castlemilk Law Centre, was on the Steering Committee for Legal Services Agency and was its second Convenor.

Rona Macleod, Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department. Rona specialises in housing and homelessness, litigation and also has an interest in criminal Injuries compensation and equalities law. Research by Rona was published in the Journal of the Legal Action Group.

Kirsti Nelson, Senior Associate/Solicitor/Deputy Head, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department. Kirsti has wide experience of litigation at all levels, acting for tenants and homeless people as well as victims of crimes of violence. Kirsti was the lead solicitor in Monica Allan’s litigation through the Inner and Outer Houses of the Court of Session culminating, successfully in the Supreme Court.

Hannah Goldsmith, Solicitor has a background in not only housing law but also mental health law. She currently particularly specialises in acting for victims of crimes of violence.

Seonaid Cavanagh, Trainee Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department. Seonaid has a wide range of housing and homelessness experience as well as advising and representing vulnerable families in regard to education law rights.

Ronnie Franks, Partner, Brown & Co Legal LLP and interim CEO, LSA. He has been a solicitor for many years specialising in mental health and incapacity law. He lectures at Glasgow University on these topics. He is a Legal Member of the Mental Health Tribunal and his Annotations to the Act are now in their second edition.

Dr Ben Christman works in LSA’s Housing and General Court Department both in Glasgow and in Greenock. He specialises in housing work and in novel litigation. He has specialised in environmental law and undertaken extensive research. His PhD was on fuel poverty.

Angus McIntosh, Director, Castlemilk Law and Money Advice Centre. Angus has been a solicitor for many years with a wide range of work including housing, social security, public and employment law. He is Secretary of the Scottish Association of Law Centres.

Candy Walker, Manager, Govan Law Centre. Candy has a wide range of social welfare and housing law experience and was formerly employed at Drumchapel Law and Money Advice Centre. She is a member of the Executive of the Scottish Association of Law Centres.

Barrie Levine, Convenor of LSA’s Board of Directors. Barrie was formerly a lecturer in Social Work at Glasgow Caledonian University after a lengthy career in the field. He has interests in homelessness, addiction and social policy among other areas.

Siobhan Johnson, Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department - TBC

Vicki Pirie, Solicitor, LSA’s Housing and General Court Department - TBC

Carrie-Anne Clifford, Partner, Brown & Co Legal LLP and is responsible for LSA’s Mental Health Legal Service, Edinburgh and the East. She has specialised in mental health and incapacity law for a number of years with a particular interest in tribunals.

Mark Lazarowicz, Advocate has a wide ranging practice in public administrative and human rights law. He also has appeared upon behalf of LSA clients on a number of occasions at the First Tier Tribunal as well as advised on Judicial Review challenges. He is a former MP and Leader of Edinburgh City Council.

Lesley Irvine, Advocate has a wide ranging equalities, public law and human rights practice at the Scottish Bar. She has represented LSA clients in many challenges through the Court of Session. She was Junior to Jonathan Mitchell QC in Monica Allan’s case that went through the Inner and Outer Houses of the Court of Session as well as to the Supreme Court.

Professor Colin Porteous OBE, Emeritus Professor of Architecture, Mackintosh School of Architecture, with a particular interest in environmental architecture. He has worked there since 1986. He chaired both the Steering Committee that set up LSA as well as the Board for the first few years. He originally worked for Technical Services Agency, the main springboard that got LSA going. He has had a strong interest in dampness and disrepair particularly in the public rented sector and was a key influence in the Scottish Anti-Dampness Campaign.