Children’s Rights in Scotland: Using the law to advance policy – Project Report

Read our recent Project Report on our project “Children’s Rights in Scotland: Using the law to advance policy”, which is funded by the Baring Foundation’s Strengthening the Voluntary Sector Programme. The report looks at the project over the 2016-17 grant period. The grant provided a resource for the Strategic Litigation Group Clan Childlaw has coordinated since 2012.

We are delighted to have continuing support from the STVS programme to continue the project until 2020.

Project: Children’s Rights in Scotland: Using the law to advance policy

Latest

My time as a Justice First Fellow

Ahead of welcoming another Justice First Fellowship trainee at Clan Childlaw, we take the opportunity to ask our solicitor, Jenna, about her experience as Justice First Fellow.
Children (Scotland) Bill & Family Justice Modernisation Strategy published

The Scottish Government published the Children (Scotland) Bill on 2nd September to amend the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and other legislation concerning children, and alongside it a Family Justice Modernisation Strategy - here's a quick overview
Launching the Child Law Network!

4th September 2019 - Today Clan Childlaw is excited to launch the Child Law Network, a new resource for anyone interested in Scottish child law.
Vacancies: Legal Policy Officer

Vacancies with Clan Childlaw

Launching the Child Law Network!

4th September 2019 - Today Clan Childlaw is excited to launch the Child Law Network, a new resource for anyone interested in Scottish child law.
Vacancies: Legal Policy Officer

Vacancies with Clan Childlaw
UNCRC incorporation in Scotland - our consultation response

28th August 2019 - We are delighted the Scottish Government has committed to incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. Read our response to the public consultation.
Supreme Court grants permission to appeal in case concerning sibling rights

27 June 2019 - The United Kingdom Supreme Court has today decided that our client’s application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court should be allowed. The case relates to sibling rights and contact within the Children’s Hearing System.
Launch of the Care Leavers' Law Service

On 18th June we welcomed nearly 100 colleagues from across the sector to the Lighthouse in Glasgow for an engagement and launch event for our new Care Leavers’ Law Service, a 5-year, Scotland-wide project funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland to help homeless CYP in Edinburgh

12th June 2019: We are delighted to have been awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland for a project we are developing with Shelter Scotland to provide legal help to children & young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Edinburgh.
New child-friendly court forms to be used to seek children's views in family and civil partnership actions from June

3 April 2019: Following work coordinated by Fiona Jones in her role as member of the Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council, new child-friendly forms will be used to seek the views of children in family and civil partnerships actions from 24th June 2019.
Brothers & Sisters Matter: Delivering Sibling Contact for Looked After Children

8th March 2019: We're really excited about our conference organised together with Siblings Reunited (STAR) today in Glasgow!
Stand Up for Siblings anniversay!

It's one year since SUFS was launched! It's been a busy year!
Supreme Court judgment on the disclosure of criminal records - Clan Childlaw press release

30 January 2019: Today the UK Supreme Court issued its judgment in 3 cases relating to the disclosure of criminal records in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Clan Childlaw intervened in these cases to explain the Scottish system in relation to the disclosure of childhood offending behaviour.

What we do
Law student essay competition

To mark our 10-year anniversary, we asked law students around Scotland: What is the biggest children’s rights issue in Scotland and how can the law be used to resolve it? Congratulations to winner Michael Malvenda!
Child law case summaries

Summaries of cases undertaken by Clan Childlaw.
Legal Training

Our specialist training ensures you have a good working knowledge of Scottish child law in action, providing essential understanding to help you achieve positive outcomes for your clients.
Alison Reid

Principal Solicitor and Chief Executive
Get legal help for a child or young person

Information for professionals, support, advocacy, and advice workers or foster carers seeking help with the law or a legal problem for a child or young person they are working with. You will find frequently asked questions, case studies and other information on this page.
Clan at 10

Events & Fundraising marking our 10th anniversary
Sibling contact

The law as it currently stands does not allow children and young people to easily address sibling separation and contact, especially care experienced children and young people. We are calling for the law to be changed to prioritise sibling relationships.
A-Z resource library

Comprehensive library of material relating to children and young people's rights. This is reference point for all legal questions and problems children and young people might have.
Brothers and sisters matter

Brothers and sisters who are looked after by a local authority or are experiencing family separation often need support to stay in contact. Clan Childlaw is working in different ways to help promote sibling contact.

Legal Training

Our specialist training ensures you have a good working knowledge of Scottish child law in action, providing essential understanding to help you achieve positive outcomes for your clients. Read more

What do we do? Podcasts on why Clan Childlaw was set up and the work we do

This year marks 10 years since Clan Childlaw was set up. In these two podcasts our Chief Executive and Principal Solicitor Alison Reid discusses our origins and the work we do. Read more

Launch of the Care Leavers' Law Service

On 18th June we welcomed nearly 100 colleagues from across the sector to the Lighthouse in Glasgow for an engagement and launch event for our new Care Leavers’ Law Service, a 5-year, Scotland-wide project funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. Read more

UNCRC incorporation in Scotland - our consultation response

28th August 2019 - We are delighted the Scottish Government has committed to incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. Read our response to the public consultation. Read more