The Legal Advice Centre Annual Report 2020-2021 showcases the amazing work and contribution that the student volunteers and staff have given to our community through a range of projects.
After a successful three-month pilot from January to March 2020, the Legal Advice Centre opened its doors more fully to members of the public, whilst facing the additional difficulties caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The recently published Legal Advice Centre Annual Report 2020-2021 marked an occasion to reflect on the initiatives carried out during the last academic year. It also marked the occasion to further highlight the growing demand for free legal advice and assistance, especially as the Pandemic has only amplified pre-existing inequalities and access to justice.
Since it fully opened its doors to the public in April 2020, the Legal Advice Centre delivered its services online, so that the student volunteers could interview and assist its clients on a regular basis, thus minimising the disruptions caused by the Pandemic.
The Legal Advice Centre devised and delivered a flexible approach geared towards meeting the needs of the most vulnerable clients and a growing demand for free legal advice services. Besides delivering some online services and consultations through MS Teams, the Legal Advice Centre rolled out “Skype-to-Phone”, a toll-free communication method that enabled the student volunteers and staff to contact those clients, who do not have access to smart phones. Such approach was highly praised by the Legal Advice Centre clients, as evidenced by a surge in online enquiries, in particular on housing and family law matters.
The Legal Advice Centre Annual Report 2020-2021 showcases some of the excellent projects that the volunteer students have been working on, as well as the legal support provided by the Law Clinic.
The Legal Advice Centre Annual Report 2020-2021 also provides a roadmap of our future plans. These plans were made possible by the fact that Legal Advice Centre succeeded in securing further grants from the College’s Greatest Needs Disbursement, which will enable the provision of further free legal advice services for the foreseeable future.
Nicola Antoniou, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Law and Criminology and Director/Supervising Solicitor at the Legal Advice Centre, issued the following comment to mark the release of the Legal Advice Centre Annual Report 2020-2021: “This year has been a long and challenging one but what I am most impressed with is the resilience, dedication and commitment of our students at the Legal Advice Centre. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all students who have volunteered at the Legal Advice Centre, as well as our volunteer solicitors and partner law firms, and academic members of staff that feature in this report”.
