scales of justice Organisations Which Can Help the Individual with a Legal Problem
maintained by Delia Venables

Directgov is the overall Governnment site. There are several sections on the site:
  • The left hand section describes the general topics covered - Britons abroad, Businesses, Employment and so on.
  • The middle section provides a number of useful directories of central government and local government. There are also a series of popular forms provided in pdf form. These include maternity benefits, lost or stolen passports, tax credits, back to work, child benefit, community care grant, off road notification, student grant and incapacity benefit.
  • The "Do It Online" section includes searching for childcare, finding a job, making a planning application, preparing a tax return online, claiming various allowances and tax credits and booking a driving test. This is one of the most important sections of the site.
  • At the top of the main page is a simple search process (just type in the words e.g. income tax) and also an advanced search which allows words to be combined in various ways and also enables you to narrow down the process before you start, e.g. Central Government, Local Government, finding your MP, local Services etc.
    • CLS Direct logo Community Legal Service Direct (CLS Direct) provides free information, help and advice direct to the public on a range of common legal issues and also offers a national helpline (0845 345 4 345). Links are provided to approved information providers under the appropriate topic. There are also the CLS Legal Information Leaflets, which can be printed from the site. These were produced by the Consumer Association and cover key areas of the civil law of England and Wales, such as Employment Law, Welfare Benefits and Debt. The viewer can also use an online calculator to see if they qualify for legal aid. The site is clear and easy to use.
    adviceUK is the UK's largest support network for free, independent advice centres. It was formed in 1979 as the Federation of Independent Advice Centres (FIAC). They see the provision of free information and advice as a vital contribution to helping individuals and communities in need to enforce their rights and improve their quality of life. adviceUK has a regional structure which mirrors the Government Office regions of the UK. You can search on the site to find organisations by subject, e.g. housing or immigration, or by geographical area.
    Advicenow is a project of Advice Services Alliance, the coordinating body for independent advice services in the UK. There is an A to Z of resources and the site provides links to information on over 200 websites, each with a description of what resources are available, categorised by the major topic concerned, e.g. Benefits, Communications and Media, Consumer Affairs, Education and training, and so on. A recent addition is a section called Self Help which includes Guides on handling legal problems, e.g. Dealing with debt, Getting your deposit back, Getting tax credits and so on, and a Tracker Tool which enables someone to store a record of all the calls, meetings, letters, and notes that they have made about their problem.
    The Citizens Advice Bureau provides extensive and detailed information on Benefits, Civil Rights, Communications, Consumer Affairs, Education, Employment, Family Matters, Health, Housing, Immigration, Legal System, Tax, and Travel. The viewer can also search the site for particular topics or keywords. You can find a local office by naming the town or area. Citizens Advice Scotland is a separate site.
    Law Centres provide a free and independent professional legal service to people who live or work in their catchment areas. The site lists the addresses of the constituent law centres. There is also a very comprehensive list of links to organisations involved in law rights and citizens' issues, including disability, immigration, benefits, equal opportunities, health and housing.
    Your Legal Rights comes from solicitors Russell Jones & Walker. The site provides information on rights relating to Employment, Accident and Injury, Family, Property, Citizens' Rights and Consumer Rights. The site is designed to provide useful information but also to help people decide whether they need legal advice.
    Tesco Legal Store provides low cost guides and DIY kits of various sorts, typically costing around 10 each. These can be purchased online and are then sent in the post. There is no attempt to provide legal advice online or link directly to lawyers and there are plenty of disclaimers saying that the viewer should consult a solicitor for legal advice. There are links to the Law Society's Directory of solicitors. There are separate sections, with Q and A for each and lists of appropriate books and DIY kits, for Accidents & Injury, Benefits & Claims, Business, Divorce & Separation, General Law & Advice, Landlord & Tenant, Living Together, Pensions, Personal Finance, Power of Attorney, Property Law, Scottish Law, Small Claims, Tax, Wills & Probate and Work & Careers.
    Your Rights is a site from Human Rights and civil Liberties organisation Liberty on Human Rights topics. The site provides information from Liberty's legal team on the Protection of Property Rights, the Right Not to be Discriminated Against, the Right of Free Expression, the Right of Peaceful Protest, the Right to Know, the Right to Privacy, the Rights of Children and Young People, the Rights of Defendents, the Rights of Immigrants, the Rights of Parents, the Rights of People with Mental Disorder and the Rights of Prisoners, the Rights of Suspects, the Rights of the Bereaved, the Rights of Travellers, the Rights of Victims and Witnesses and the Rights of Workers. The site also covers ways in which the English legal system approaches these topics (civil action, judicial review, government, local government, courts, the media, police etc.) and information on the Human Rights Act itself. There is a comprehensive list of organizations and publications, a FAQ section and information on how to ask further questions on an individual basis (Liberty apparently already respond to around 5,000 individual questions a year). There is also a discussion forum.
    Ombudsmen (British and Irish Ombudsmen Organisation) provides information on all the ombudsmen available to the individual who believes that they have received an injustice from a public body. There are a lot of them, including Health Services, Local Government, Legal Services, Parliamentary and Police Services Ombudsmen.
    UK Law Online, based at Leeds University, provides a general description of how the UK legal system works.
    Nik Nicol, a barrister, provides an excellent introduction to the English Legal System (and it's available in Spanish too).
    A Level Law Notes prepared by staff at St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Bristol provide an excellent source of basic material on the UK legal system.
    A Guide to the UK Legal System by Sarah Carter, Law Librarian at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and Guide to Irish Law by Dr. Darius Whelan, lecturer in law at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, Dublin, are two comprehensive and innovative papers published on the USA LLRX Librarian's site. The papers describe the respective legal systems as if to a lawyer or student of law from another country, making full use of legal sources and resources on the web.
    The Law Society of Scotland offers information for the general public on Scots Law and a History and Structure of the Courts. There is a directory of all Scottish Lawyers which can be used to find all lawyers in, say, Aberdeen, as well as to find particular individuals or firms. The list can be used to find accredited experts (solicitors) in specific fields of law, such as IP, employment and so on.
    Legal Services Agency is a Scottish charity offering legal assistance to the disadvantaged. Housing and social welfare law are especially covered and all initial advice is free. The Agency is funded by local authorities and the Scottish Office.
    Firms of solicitors willing to give free initial legal information by email is a useful list of such firms, based on this site.

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