As well as providing information and advice through our helplines and surgeries, the SWRC also provides legal representation. You may wish to apply for representation if you need represented in court or other proceedings or if you need in-depth legal advice or assistance beyond what can be provided in a helpline call or surgery appointment. The SWRC represents women aged 16 and over who are or have been affected by gender based violence and need legal advice or representation as a result of their experience.
Legal advice and representation is provided by JustRight Scotland LLP (JRS) through the SWRC Project. If we work with you through the SWRC Project, you will be a client of JRS.
The SWRC aims to take on cases that will have a positive impact on access to justice for all women affected by Gender Based Violence. We focus on cases where there are barriers within the system that prevent women accessing justice. This means that we do not take on a lot of cases. In order to decide whether we can work on your case, we will think about whether (a) your case will have a wider impact on access to justice and (b) whether there are systemic barriers to accessing justice that could be addressed by our work on your case. .
There may be times when we do not have enough time or resources to take on any new cases. If that is the case, you will be able to see that on our website.
If you need advice and/or representation and would like to apply for this through the SWRC please complete and submit this form [link to form]. You can also fill this in for someone you are working with who would like advice or representation.
Once we have your form, we will get in touch with you by telephone within 1 week to get some more information about your situation. We will then consider all of the information we have and let you know whether we can help. If we can’t reach you by telephone, we will not be able to consider your case. If you have not spoken to us within 1 week of you having submitted your form, please contact our offices on 0141 406 5350.
We will let you know whether we can help within 5 weeks of the date you submit the form to us unless you give us a reason why you need an answer more quickly than that (for example, an urgent deadline in your case). Sometimes, we will not be able to give you an answer quickly and, if you need urgent help, we may have to recommend that you go elsewhere.
If we can’t help, our advocacy worker may be able to work with you to help you find another firm or organisation that can help. We will let you know whether we can offer that assistance to you.
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