Annual Report 2004-2005

Committed to social justice

Our work

The purpose of the Law Centre is to promote social justice and provide specialist legal support to advice giving organisations and disadvantaged individuals.

We deliver legal services to members in community care, employment, immigration,  social security and child support. We support the work of advice agencies through advice, casework, training, information and publications.

We aim to work closely with our membership of independent advice giving agencies and associate members including social services and probation offices, solicitors’ practices, trade unions and community based organisations.

We seek to promote the work of local, regional and specialist independent advice in partnership with adviceni and Citizens Advice.

Our work is guided by our core values: professional, independent, accountable, responsive, committed to social justice and equality .

Our main activities

n  Advice line open to members, Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 1.00pm.

n Casework and representation service. Strategic court work on referral from members.

n Training courses for experienced and new advisers.

n Frontline magazine four times a year,  annual encyclopedia of rights, reports on changes to law and policy.

n Informed policy comment on changes to public policy and legislation.

n Quarterly practitioner meetings on social security, community care, migrant workers’ rights and immigration where advisers discuss legal issues and practitioner developments.

Chairperson’s report: embracing change

This year, the Law Centre published its development plan for 2005-2008.  The plan set out an ambitious agenda for change.

Goals include establishing a policy development unit in order to provide a more comprehensive approach to influencing policy.  To this end, I am delighted that we have secured additional funding from the Department for Social Development for a policy worker from April 2006.  Last year, we published Unmet Need - a review of mental health advice and information services which highlighted the gap in specialist mental health advice services and the inconsistencies in provision of information made available to people with mental health problems.  We are now seeking funding to develop a mental health legal initiative and a policy development unit and I am hopeful of a positive outcome in our endeavours on these fronts in the near future.

Other initiatives include a further drive in the development of quality standards and we are working towards achieving Lexcel, the quality mark for solicitors’ offices and legal departments, and to retain Investors in People status.  The encyclopedia of welfare rights has been produced in a CD ROM format and this is part of a wider programme to enhance electronic communication with our members.  Developing our website further is another priority and we have made it more accessible for people with visual impairments, dyslexia and for those who do not use English as a first language.  We are also working on increasing the number of training courses which are externally accredited and examining whether distance learning can be effectively utilised as a means of delivering training.

In a climate of scarce resources for the voluntary sector, organisations are required to embrace change and work smarter rather than harder.  The Law Centre is striving to meet this challenge and maintain a high standard of service delivery.

This past year, we also commissioned an external pay review for the whole organisation.  We recognise it is important that staff are appropriately rewarded for their work. The exercise tested the mettle of the management committee, senior management and staff.  Managing the process and outcome was not easy and I am pleased that the eventual result was a positive one. I believe we have emerged stronger and a little wiser for the experience.

I am very aware of the pressures that face Law Centre staff in their work.  The quality of the work produced is testament to the considerable skills and commitment within the organisation.  I chair a management committee which is fully supportive of the Law Centre and recognises the value of its work.  I hope you find the Annual Report informative and interesting.

Director’s report: tackling disadvantage

With limited resources, how can a Law Centre persuade government and its institutions to tackle disadvantage and deliver social justice?  Moreover, with the rapid pace of change, how can any voluntary organisation hope to shape rather than simply respond to events?

These are challenges the Law Centre has struggled to confront.  We have made inroads by ensuring a connection between our advice and casework experience and the lobbying for progressive change.  This allows us to build on the strengths we have, including legal expertise and close working relationships with our member organisations and other bodies.  The work of the past year reveals how this operates in practice. 

Last year, a young Ukrainian woman had both legs amputated below the knee because she suffered from frostbite after losing her job and becoming homeless.  As a result, the treatment of migrant workers became a high profile issue.  The expansion of the European Union in May 2004 opened up new opportunities for migrant labour.  Moreover, local skill shortages are being managed through the work permit scheme.  For example, there are almost one thousand employees on work permits in the health service, mainly from the Philippines and India.  Currently, seventy per cent of applications for a national insurance number are being made by Polish nationals.  At short notice, just prior to the expansion of the European Union, restrictions were placed on the entitlement of accession state nationals to social security and housing support.  The Law Centre has embarked on a test case arguing that these restrictions are contrary to European Union law.  Further, we are working with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to produce information materials in a number of languages on the rights of migrant workers, whether from the European Union or elsewhere.  We are also in discussion with government to assist in funding and distributing the materials both in Northern Ireland and abroad.  We have set up a migrant workers’ practitioner forum for our members working in this area and responded to the government’s consultation on managing migration.  These initiatives are a practical contribution towards hopefully preventing a recurrence of the tragedy that befell the young Ukrainian woman.

Tribunal reform is now proceeding at a great pace in Britain following the publication in July 2004 of the White Paper – Transforming Public Services; complaints, redress and tribunals.  A new unified tribunal service will be launched in April 2006.  The White Paper acknowledged that many of the issues prompting reform were relevant to Northern Ireland and that a separate process would be set in motion to consult on change.  Progress has been slow, though an inter-departmental committee has been set up.  We were delighted, therefore, to co-sponsor the conference, Tribunals – A Time for Change, with the Office of the President of the Appeals Service and Department for Constitutional Affairs.  The conference brought together key figures in the reform process and has assisted in developing momentum towards introducing tribunal reform in Northern Ireland. 

The new Judicial Appointments Commission has recently been established.  It was more than fortuitous that in the week of its launch the Law Centre and Queen’s University’s Servicing the Legal System co-hosted a keynote address by Baroness Hale, the first woman Law Lord.  Baroness Hale’s speech, Making a difference - Why we need a more diverse judiciary, was a thought provoking and clear contribution as to how judicial appointments can produce a judiciary more reflective of the society being served.  With the Chair and other members of the commission in the audience, it was a particularly timely contribution.  A copy of the lecture is to be published shortly in the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly.  These examples and other work contained in the Annual Report are illustrative of how the Law Centre, in partnership with others, can make a meaningful contribution towards change and the tackling of disadvantage.  Such work is founded on the Law Centre having a credible reputation.  Our reputation is based on the work of our staff and management committee and I would like to thank them for the high quality of their work and commitment over the past year.

A busy year

Work undertaken

Advice line enquiries                                 6,640

New cases opened                                      323

Appearances in courts and tribunals                312

Advisers trained                                          334

Publications distributed                             12,800

Visitors to our website                              122,220              

Areas of advice sought

Immigration                                               34%

Social security and child support                   29%

Employment                                              20%

Community care                                         12%

Housing                                                      1%

Other                                                        4%

Representation: a healthy rate of success

Success rates

Industrial tribunal                                                             96%

Appeal tribunals (social security and child support)                   65%

Commissioner (social security and child support)                      68%

Immigration appeals - Adjudicator                                        62%

Immigration appeals - Immigration Appeals Tribunal                   42%

Court hearings                                                                 63%

Overall success rate                                                                     70%     

Note: Court hearings include Hight Court and Court of Appeal  hearings. Applications for leave to apply for judicial review which involve a hearing are listed as successful or unsuccessful under court hearings.

Other includes mentions, adjourned hearings and cases where decisions are awaited. Applications for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal.

Figures in the above tables refer to the financial year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005.

Casework milestones

Social security

This year has seen a number of clients in severe financial difficulty because of tax credit overpayment recovery decisions. We made a High Court judicial review application for one client, referred by Larne CAB, against a decision to recover the overpayment. The overpayment had partly occurred before she was declared bankrupt. We were successful in that HM Revenue and Customs’ solicitors conceded the case before hearing, settled our client’s concerns and paid the legal costs. A number of other tax credit overpayment cases were resolved but only after protracted correspondence. These were cases where the payments were due to errors by HM Revenue and Customs and the recovery would have caused financial hardship.

Part of our casework strategy is to prioritise cases where arguments arising out of the Human Rights Act 1998 are central. Our test cases this year on the compatibility with article 8 ECHR (right to respect for private and family life) of the absolute time limit for claiming bereavement benefits, given the difficult circumstances of bereaved persons, were successful before a tribunal. As expected, the decision is being appealed to the Social Security Commissioner by the Department for Social Development. This does provide the opportunity, however, to set a new precedent.

We also lodged an appeal for a man with responsibility for a newborn child who was refused a sure start maternity grant to help him with essentials for the baby, apparently because of his gender. The appeal grounds included a claim that the refusal was based on unlawful discrimination. As the client was subsequently offered an ex gratia payment equivalent to the grant, the appeal did not need to proceed to full hearing.

2004-2005 was a year in which many people from the new European Union member states came to Northern Ireland for work. Restrictions on access to social security benefits for some migrant workers who lose their jobs have led to hardship. We have lodged an appeal against a refusal of Income Support for one woman from Poland who has become destitute after losing work. This test case is trying to establish that the restriction on her eligibility for the safety net of Income Support is contrary to the government’s European law obligations.

Child support

We have continued our specialist child support service this year. Cases have included acting for a parent with care and achieving a significant increase in the maintenance assessment of the self employed non resident parent. We were able to convince the tribunal that the declared income did not accurately reflect the person’s normal weekly earnings. This case is one of several involving representation around the complex assessment of parents who are self employed.

Immigration

We have been involved this year in a significant amount of work in the Court of Appeal. We currently have four cases awaiting hearing, one for a Bangladeshi client appealing a decision of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal on his asylum and human rights case. Clients from Sierra Leone and Algeria are in the same position. The fourth case is an appeal from a judicial review decision for a Nigerian client and this relates to his detention at Belfast International Airport.

We successfully settled a High Court judicial review of a decision of the Home Office not to grant an ethnic Albanian from Serbia permission to work. The client’s asylum application failed but he has not been able to return home without a travel document and has been left in limbo. He had no access to benefits, was living in temporary accommodation which provided meals and he had to live without any access to cash. Just prior to the High Court hearing, the Home Office agreed to allow the client to work, which means that he can now support himself and rebuild his life.

We were successful in overturning the Home Office’s application to appeal against a successful adjudicator’s decision for a Sudanese client. We lodged a statutory review challenge in the Administrative Court in London and were successful. This means that the client has now had his refugee status acknowledged.

Our immigration legal advisers have also found that a substantial proportion of their work this year was focused on the immigration position of migrant workers. In one European law case, the Home Office had not accepted that the client was a ‘worker’.  The client had returned to the UK pregnant, but had a letter from her previous employer which stated she would have been working but for the pregnancy.  The Home Office withdrew its negative decision on the morning of the appeal hearing. We also have lodged important applications which are exploring the implications of this year’s European Court of Justice decision about Irish born children.

We continue to advise and represent in relation to the impact of European law here, particularly where the dual nationality of many residents here is significant. This year, we have obtained EEA permits for a number of people, including a success on appeal for a disabled client who was having difficulty getting a permit for his Eastern European family.

Employment

The introduction of costs against applicants to the industrial and fair employment tribunal led to an employer threatening to pursue costs against one of our clients if he failed to settle for a certain sum of money. We were able to advise of the difficulties which the emloyer would have in sustaining that threat and went on to obtain a positive settlement for the client, including a commitment by the employer to review its policy on its treatment of part time workers.

We successfully settled two cases this year where there had been a failure to comply with the Transfer of Undertaking regulations.

Failure by employers to pay the minimum wage continues to arise. We were successful in settling a case before hearing on a constructive dismissal case where the client was not being paid the minimum wage.

Another positive settlement involved a cash payment and a commitment by the employer to carry out anti harassment training.  This case was for a client who had been assaulted by a colleague and had attempted to whistle blow about the situation.

Our employment legal advisers have also been acting on behalf of migrant workers, who can be especially vulnerable to exploitation by employers. In one case, employment was terminated immediately before a visa was due to expire, rendering the employee vulnerable to immediate deportation; in another, issues of unfair dismissal, denial of holidays and illegal failure to pay tax all arose. Settlements were obtained for clients from the Baltic States and the Philippines in relation to race discrimination and failure to meet contractual obligations.

Community care

Our community care legal advisers have resolved a number of cases as a result of correspondence on the legal issues involved and this has resulted in improved care packages, such as additional care worker hours and disability adaptations for clients.

The issue of a lack of community resources for people with learning disabilities was highlighted in a judicial review case. We were successful in a challenge to a decision of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. One of the grounds for detention was that it was necessary for our client, who has a learning disability, to stay in hospital but it was clear that this was only until resources became available for a placement in a community setting. The judicial review was successful on grounds of the failure of the tribunal to give adequate reasons as to why detention was necessary when the client was in a position to live in the community. We are now pursuing a damages action and will use this case to highlight the need for investment in community care.

We were successful in obtaining leave to apply for judicial review of a decision of a social services trust. The trust maintains that it has no responsibility to give financial assistance with rent to our client who has a disability and is on a very low income, during a period when the client is required to pay rent on two houses. Rent is needed for a property which is being adapted for his needs as a disabled person and temporary accommodation while the works are being carried out. The case is now proceeding to full hearing. 

Training

New methods of training

The Law Centre is currently considering its training provision from two aspects, accreditation and methods of delivery of courses offered to members.

The core training for new and inexperienced advisers, the Welfare Rights Adviser Programme (WRAP), has been reaccredited at Levels 2 and 3 by Northern Ireland Open College Network. Also, in line with its work over the last two years, the Law Centre continues to work with adviceni on the ASK project (Advice, Skills and Knowledge), encouraging and facilitating the achievement of both qualifications, WRAP in relation to the knowledge base required to practice as an adviser and NVQ in relation to evidenced work based skills.

Our Tribunal Representation course is also due to be reaccredited and we are taking the opportunity to completely review the structure, content and delivery of the course, taking into account previous participants comments. Early considerations suggest a lengthening of the course and possible higher level of accreditation than its current Level 3.

Changes in accreditation systems may also allow for accreditation of some of our other course subjects. We believe this will increase demonstrable quality standards across a wider range of subjects and benefit advisers and other users of our services.

In relation to methods of delivery, the Law Centre has traditionally offered its training on a classroom based model.  We are currently giving consideration to providing training by distance learning both by paper and e-learning.

There are, of course, both advantages and disadvantages to these methods of delivery.  To ensure what we provide meets the needs of our members, we will carry out a survey during winter 2005.  A questionnaire will be sent to all members. In addition, some face to face interviews will take place with our training officers.  We will let member agencies know the outcomes of this exercise. 

In the meantime we continue to report the very successful take up and assessment of our training provision, with an overall satisfaction rate of 98.7%.

People trained: April ‘04 to March ‘05

WRAP course                                     45

Other programmed courses                          170

Community Care Legal Advice Service             105

External training                                           14

Total                                              334

WRAP course

This ten day course accredited by the Open College Network ran three times last year.  Providing a sound foundation in welfare rights, it also contributes to the NVQ in Advice and Guidance accredited by the Open University. Evaluated satisfaction  93.1%

Other programme courses

Courses in Child Support, Introduction to Employment Law, EEA Family Permits, Tribunal Representation, Human Rights and Community Care, Mental Incapacity, Running an Employment Case and Rights of Migrant Workers were run at foundation, intermediate and advanced levels.  Evaluated satisfaction  99.4%

Publications

Publications in the IT age

This year, the Law Centre has concentrated on devising ways to maximise the delivery of information to members, client groups and the general public.

We also continue to produce Frontline, casework bulletins and information briefings, Students and Benefits published in collaboration with Adult Learner Finance Project (NI), and other regular publications, relying on the expertise of our legal advisers and of practitioners throughout the advice sector.

Signpost to immigration advice

In April, we launched an updated multilingual poster and leaflet signposting free and confidential immigration advice. A new edition is being planned, to include languages used by newly arrived communities of migrant workers.

Encyclopedia of Rights CD

In September, we published Encyclopedia of Rights CD, a user-friendly electronic version of our information packs of social welfare law.

At the launch, Janet Uhlemann, manager of the Social Security Agency’s Anti-Poverty Unit which funded the project, praised the initiative as an aid to benefit uptake.  Members of the publications unit, who planned and designed the CD, were on hand to explain and demonstrate the new format, and were pleased to receive positive feedback from voluntary sector members and statutory agency representatives.

Although primarily designed for advisers, the information is available to the public through this web site and www.ssani.gov.uk.

Website

We have fitted our website with Browsealoud, a speech enabling tool which makes it more accessible to people with mild visual im­pairments, dyslexia, literacy issues or for whom English is not the first language.  Having tested the site with Jaws, an electronic reading tool for blind people, we were pleased to find out that most pages were easily accessible.  Next year, we hope to achieve an internationally recognised accessibility standard.

Library news

We have expanded our book and journal stock this year. Holdings reflect the current work of the Law Centre, concentrating on social security, immigration, community care and employment. Human rights, legal aid and legal advice are other areas well represented in our collection. The most important resources we hold in employment and immigration are listed and are available on request. Our website contains a guide to looking for Commissioners’ Decisions and a listing of the journals we hold.  The library is for reference only but Law Centre members and researchers are welcome by arrangement.

Working for social justice

Achieving change

As part of its commitment to social justice, the Law Centre prioritises promoting access to justice, enforcement of legal rights and entitlements and influencing the development of legislation.

The Law Centre is unusual among employers of lawyers in that it asks them to deliver training, produce publications and research and campaign on policy issues as well as the more traditional legal advice and litigation work.

This holistic approach to achieving change through law ensures that our lawyers become more expert in their field through an awareness of practice and policy as well as law in the narrower sense.  Crucially, it also ensures that all our work, including policy development work, is informed by legal expertise and the experience of clients.

Replying to consultations

This year, we provided replies to social policy consultations on:

n social security work-focused interviews amendment regulations;

n new asylum appeal rules and procedures;

n legal aid proposals for immigration and asylum appeals in Northern Ireland;

n Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner complaints procedures;

n Selected Admission: Making Migration Work for Britain;

n new quality standards for nursing homes.

Impact on government policies

This year, we corresponded with the Northern Ireland Court Service on the treatment of Child Tax Credit (CTC) for legal aid. Tax credits are treated as income for legal aid, whereas Income Support, which CTC replaced for some claimants, is a passport benefit for legal aid.  For example, a client on Incapacity Benefit with a child now has CTC and is therefore not automatically entitled to full legal aid.  The Legal Services Commission has now initiated a review which will hopefully lead to a defined policy position. The Court Service also accepted that it should keep more comprehensive statistics around the work of the social security commissioner.

We persuaded the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to amend its policy to acknowledge the fact that workers from new EU countries are entitled to Housing Benefit and access to public housing while working during their first twelve months in Northern Ireland.

Attendance of our immigration unit at the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) core group led to improvement on procedures to avoid situations where clients in further appeals were losing NASS support in error.

Publicising issues

Law Centre staff expertise is regularly solicited by the media in all our areas of work, particularly in the area of immigration, asylum seekers and migrant workers.  We welcome the opportunity to dispel myths and advance the rights of all our client groups.

Recently, the traumatic removal attempt of a Law Centre asylum client was widely publicised, highlighting the need for the Home Office to review its policy and practice in the detention and deportation of vulnerable people and families.

This year, we also highlighted through the media the need for policy change in the funding of residential care.

Sharing experience

Productive partnerships

The Law Centre works in close collaboration with its members and other partners, particularly through the Advice Services Alliance.

This year, we were pleased to contribute to the tenth anniversary celebrations of Omagh Independent Advice Services.

Working groups and committees

Our staff contributes its expertise to management committees and working groups throughout the sector, including Age Concern, Housing Rights Service, Committee on the Administration of Justice, the Community Foundation social justice advisory fund committee, the Social Security Advisory Committee and Specialist Library and Information Services.

Law Centre model

This year, we were asked to explain the Law Centre’s work and its model for affecting change to University of Ulster students, to the Law Centres Federation annual meeting and to the launch of the campaign for an inner city Dublin law centre at the Eamonn Lecky Memorial conference.

Legal reform

New staff commitments this year have included work with the Court Service Fundamental Legal Aid Review Steering Group. 

The Law Centre was asked to contribute its expertise on guidelines and procedures for judicial review to an advisory group for Pobal on the development of the draft Irish Language Act and chaired a conference for Housing Rights Service on the private rented sector. We discussed legal issues in Northern Ireland for visiting law students from Fordham and spoke at the annual conference of regional chairs of social security appeal tribunals.

Human rights

Law Centre staff has developed expertise in human rights legislation and how it relates to welfare rights.  This year, we talked at a University of Ulster conference on mental health and human rights and provided training on human rights to health and social services trusts. We also discussed the relationship between non-government organisations and national human rights institutions at a British Council conference in Sri Lanka.

Asylum

As part of the Refugee Action Group, we contributed to an update of Forced to Flee, an information booklet on refugees and asylum seekers.  We held meetings with the prison service on improving the detention conditions of immigration and asylum detainees.  With NICEM and Amnesty International, we met  the then Home Office Minister Des Browne and  Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alva Gil Robles as part of continued lobbying against immigration detention.

We contributed to the Chartered Institute of Housing best practice guide for advisers working with asylum seekers and refugees in providing housing and gave a talk at the Institute’s annual conference. We provided a chairperson for a seminar on the treatment of children of asylum seekers for the Institute of Irish Studies.  We carried out a training session for South Tyrone Empowerment Project interpreters  and contributed to a seminar on the benefits of diversity organised by the Northern Ireland Co-op Association.

Migrant workers

Last winter, a young migrant worker from the Ukraine had to have her legs amputated after living rough in cold weather conditions.  She has since been granted leave to remain for three years with help from the Law Centre and is rebuilding her life with medical and social services support.  To ensure that similar situations do not occur again, the Northern Board set up an Interagency Migrant Workers Group and the Law Centre has been contributing its expertise to this.

To counter the lack of information for migrant workers on their rights and entitlements, we are working with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on a migrant workers handbook covering social security, employment and immigration issues.

We gave talks on the rights of migrant workers for the European Commission, Housing Rights Service, the Simon Community, UNISON and Newtownards Citizens Advice Bureau.  We spoke on European law and freedom of movement to the Institute for Professional and Legal Studies.

Disability and community care

Talks on disability issues, mental health law and community care were provided to the Alzheimer’s Society, Carers National Association, Arthritis Research Campaign and to law students at the University of Ulster. 

Fostering debate

Law Centre events contribute to the debate for progressive change including reform of mental health services and the need for diversity in the judiciary.

Improving mental health services

In recent years, much work has been done by voluntary and statutory organisations to improve the current state of mental health services.  David Bamford, chair of the Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability, spoke at the Law Centre’s Annual General Meeting last December. His speech covered the progress of the review and his aspirations for future policy, strategy, service priorities and legislation which will reflect the needs of users and carers.  He commended the Law Centre on Unmet Need, a study of mental health advice and information services which was launched on the day. ‘This report will be an extremely valuable contribution to our deliberations as the review comes to a conclusion next year.’

Jim Campbell of QUB School of Social Work, co-author of Unmet Need with Debra Wilson, outlined the recommendations of the research, including the need for legal services to be developed to ensure greater access to justice for people with mental health difficulties.

A more diverse judiciary

In June, Baroness Hale, the first woman Law Lord, gave a keynote lecture on the need for a more diverse judiciary at an event jointly organised by the Law Centre and SLS Legal Publications NI.  Lady Hale made the case for ensuring that the selection of judicial appointments covers the widest pool of talent, embracing solicitors and barristers as well as lawyers working in the public and voluntary sector and within academia. She outlined the value and importance  of addressing the under-representation of certain sections of society, in particular women and ethnic minorities. The lecture was timely as it coincided with the announcement of the new Judicial Appointments Commission tasked with ensuring that the judiciary is more reflective of the community in Northern Ireland.

Prior to the lecture, Lady Hale spent time talking to Law Centre staff to find out about our work and in particular about the issues raised by our strategic casework and tribunal representation.

Time for tribunal reform

In September, the Law Centre co-sponsored a conference organised by the Office of the President of the Appeals Service on developments in tribunal reform in Britain.  Northern Ireland is to bring in its own reforms which will be the subject of a separate consultation, although some of the changes in Britain will have a direct impact here. The proposed reforms extend beyond administrative changes, looking at a broader approach to resolving legal problems and arguing for enhanced advice and information services to help people prepare their own appeals to tribunals. 

Facilitating practitioners

The Law Centre facilitates regular practitioner meetings with the social security forum, community care forum, migrant workers forum and immigration practitioners group.  An important seminar took place at the March social security forum.  Staff from the Tax Credit Office gave advisers and trainers an update on recovery of overpayments and on the migration of Child Tax Credit from social security to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

The full version of Annual Report 2004-2005 is available from the Law Centre (NI) Publications Department here. It includes full staff and membership details.

The Report was voted Best Annual Report at the NICVA/Scope Awards in June 2006.

© Law Centre (NI) 2006