“I am delighted to have been recognised with this award, and that the importance of child-centred legal services has been recognised"
Clan Childlaw CEO Alison Reid has been awarded the Law Society of Scotland’s inaugural Legal Pioneer Award.
She will be one of six legal pioneers, announced at the Law Society of Scotland’s annual conference.
The award has been created as part of the Law Society’s 75th anniversary celebrations, and have been presented to individuals that have been recognised as offering significant contributions to Scotland’s legal sector.
Clan Childlaw is the only charity in Scotland that provides child-centred legal representation exclusively for children and young people.
It empowers others to support children and young people to use their rights and we influence children’s rights focused change to practice, policy and law. Clan has lead on several significant children’s rights cases heard by the Supreme Court.
In 2008 Alison and co-founder Fiona Jones recognised that children are regularly facing legal decisions that change their lives without lawyers to represent them.
They started Clan Childlaw to provide those children with their own lawyers who do things differently, providing outreach legal services that prioritise what the child needs and using their legal skills to keep children at the heart of every decision made about them.
Clan’s work aims to give children and young people a positive experience of participating in the legal process, using their rights and having their voices heard.
Alison said: “I am delighted to have been recognised with this award, and that the importance of child-centred legal services has been recognised. I am pleased that our specialised approach to working as lawyers for children and young people is seen as making a significant contribution to Scotland’s legal sector.
“This year we have seen incorporation of UNCRC into Scots law, and more children will seek to claim their rights, and we are breaking new ground again by creating learning opportunities for practicing lawyers and law students interested in developing a child-centred practice. We want to see a Scotland where every child that needs a lawyer can get a lawyer for children.”
