Volunteer’s view

Hello, my name is Max, and I am a recent graduate of Japanese from the University of Edinburgh. Last year I wrote my dissertation about constitutional law in Japan. Currently, I am looking forward to starting the GDL in September. But in the meantime, I wanted to get some practical legal experience before embarking on my chosen profession. Since I was working in Edinburgh over the summer, my dissertation supervisor recommended I research places to volunteer in my spare time.

And so began my time volunteering for the Scottish Child Law Centre once a week. Over the last couple months, I have met some great people, volunteers from all over Europe, and gained more practical knowledge than I was originally expecting.

I was pushed into the forefront in my second week as I was the only volunteer at the Centre for a number of weeks (at least on Mondays). However, a couple weeks ago, two more volunteers joined me, and today there are six people in the Centre’s library –the most I’ve seen yet!

Over the last couple of months, I have been involved in various projects. At one point, I even used my Japanese knowledge to translate a leaflet. I did not realise how many little pieces of knowledge I had picked up until I started an introductory online law course for my university. My main points of knowledge came from a database I have been helping update. I have learned what various terms in child and family law mean, and I have gained the experience necessary to research legal material online and from the library.

I’m only here for another few weeks, but there are still many things which I am looking forward to, including but not limited to meeting Ben Adler who has been cycling from Devon to aid SCLC.

All-in-all volunteering at the SCLC has been an even better experience than I was anticipating. The SCLC was a great, rewarding, and interesting way to spend my extra time this summer.

18 August 2014

My time at the Scottish Child Law Centre

9th July 2014

There are just two days left of my internship at the Scottish Child Law Centre. Now I’m sitting here in the library of the Centre, reviewing the last 7 weeks: I have experienced so much and learned a lot, with one or two challenges.
My responsibilities included daily office duties like data administration and working with the data set. The most challenging task for me as a foreign volunteer, fearing strong Scottish accents, was answering the calls. But thanks to the kind and constructive support of the solicitors and the other volunteers I also grew into this task.
There were also some legal research projects we managed either within the group of volunteers or individually and I had the opportunity to translate a leaflet into German.
My internship included many highlights like a day at court, the attendance of a conference (about street law) and of an intern legal teaching (about sexting). In the last week I got the chance to observe a Children’s Hearing. The Children’s Hearing System is unique in Scotland and it was therefore a very informative experience for me. I was very impressed by the mediation talent of the panel members, who are trained lay persons who give their time freely.
All in all I spent a very interesting and intense time here at the Scottish Child Law Centre. Due to the work on the data set I gained a broad insight into child and family law. This was completed by the experiences at court and at the Children’s Hearing which reminded me that, behind all the cases, are people, emotions and life stories.
I thank everybody working at the Scottish Child Law Centre, you made my stay so enriching.

Katharina Hagaleit, Fernuniversitat Hagen
Germany

 

 

Visiting the Scottish Parliament

Today four of us interns were lucky and had the chance to visit the Scottish Parliament. The MSP Kezia Dugdale and her staff took the time to give us a tour through the parliament. The building itself is of modern and unusual architecture and we were surprised to see how much thought went into the design of every little detail of the building! We visited the committee rooms, the debating chamber and the offices of the MSPs. It was great to be given an insight into Scottish politics and the process of legislation in this country. It was especially interesting to discuss in which ways the Scottish Parliament might change in the case of Scotland’s independence.

We would like to thank Kezia and her staff again for this great opportunity!

 

Busy, busy day!

It’s another fun and busy day for us at the office. We are now four foreign interns, Jenni from Spain, Petra from the Czech Republic and Barbara and Lena from Germany, working on different research projects at the centre. Also the SCLC’s new solicitor Heather joined us at the library today since her office is occupied by technicians who are providing us with a brand new telephone system today.

We doubt that the library has ever been much busier and more international than today!

 

Rachel’s Experience as a Volunteer

My name is Rachael McCallum. I am currently a third year LLB Law student at the University of Stirling and I am currently volunteering once a week at the Scottish Child Law Centre. I am doing this volunteering placement as part of a third year Honours module at the university whereby each student was allocated a placement within an area of law which they were most interested in. I am extremely interested in family and child law so when I was told that I would be coming to the Scottish Child Law Centre I was over the moon and the placement has certainly not disappointed. There are many other students taking this module at many different law firms all over Scotland but I think at the Scottish Child Law Centre, I have been allowed to do more than anyone else has at their placement. I have been allowed to delve right into cases and have been doing research on specialised cases in order to help another volunteer with his dissertation. Volunteering at the Scottish Child Law Centre has also given me lots of ideas for my dissertation and I was also granted the honour of being able to come back once my volunteering is finished to use the centres resources for my dissertation. This is a great opportunity for me because the lawyers and interns who work here can offer so much and the resources are endless. I am really enjoying working in a relaxed setting whilst also being able to knuckle down and get work done. Everyone I have met at the centre has been extremely accommodating and has given me advice whenever I have needed it. I would strongly recommend anyone with an interest in family and child law to volunteer here as there is so much to gain and there is certainly lots of work to be done! I could really imagine myself working in a place like this in the future and am seriously considering continuing to volunteer even after my module is finished at the end of the year. I haven’t been here for too long but I am really excited and looking forward to all the exciting things that will be happening at the centre over the next 6 months!

Upcoming! Conference : The Children’s Hearing (Scotland) Act: “A Year On”

Our excellent volunteers

The Scottish Child Law Center is proud to announce its upcoming conference: The Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 – ” On Year On”

Held on Friday the 16th of May 2014, from 10:00 to 16:00, The Royal College of Physicians, Queen Street, Edinburgh

The conference follows up from last year’s successful and analyses the changes a year after the introduction of the Children’s Hearing Act.

Hear the experts responses on what it is, how it has bedded in and, most importantly, is it working?

” Volunteering in conference was a real eye-opener on what it means to study Law. Knowing it is not the completed journey, you must experience it and understand how it takes charge of your and, as illustrated by this conference, how it infiltrates the lives of children as well” – Camila Macedo, Law student and volunteer from Brazil.

The conference is both enlightening and simply a great time, not to be missed out on!

For all booking and event inquiries email events@sclc.org.uk

“They are wearing wigs!”

Today two of us interns, Jennifer, a Spanish PhD student, and Lena, a German trainee lawyer, had the opportunity to observe two court sessions at the High Court as well as the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh.

At the High Court we witnessed the sentencing of a disturbing murder trial of a woman who had stabbed her neighbour in front of the victim’s children while being under the influence of drugs. She had no memory of the incident whatsoever. Due to a number of witnesses the jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. It was the first time that any of us attended a murder trial and it did leave a mark. The case at the Sheriff Court was dealing with illegal downloads and file sharing and was due to its technical nature not as compelling as the previous one.

Observing the Scottish trials was really interesting, especially after comparing the Scottish criminal law as well as the criminal procedural law to the Spanish and German legal systems. Overall a very instructive experience!

Visit to the Scottish Parliament

On Friday, three of our volunteers had the chance to visit the Scottish Parliament. We were showed around by Kezia Dugdale who is a Scottish Labour Party MSP, representing the Lothian region. Kezia told us about the history of the building and famous politicians who worked there. She also showed us the very nice art collection and let us into Committee Rooms, the Debating Chamber and her own MSP office. The visit was very interesting and we would like to thank Kezia Dugdale and the Scottish Child Law Centre for this opportunity!

Marta

Meeting with Kezia Dugdale MSP

My Experiences as an Intern at the SCLC

This will be my fourth and final week at the Scottish Child Law Centre and I can honestly say it has been a really great experience. I came across the SCLC online, and after reading up on what they do here and the services they provide I was delighted to see they welcome volunteers.

Liam, Summer Intern

My duties during my time here have been varied and interesting. One of the main responsibilities has been the answering and recording details of calls to the centre, and as an organisation which deals with child law issues from across the whole of Scotland, there certainly hasn’t been a shortage of them! Some of my time has also been spent carrying out legal research projects to help the solicitors in their dealing with clients. While challenging, having been able to actively contribute something of use to the solicitors has been really great and for me has distinguished my time here from other work placements.  I am also fortunate enough to have been asked to attend and speak at the upcoming ‘Capacity in Question’ conference which, for a student, will be a unique experience and give me a great insight into a specialised area of child law.

My time here has definitely been beneficial for the future and I would recommend working at the SCLC to any student. It’s really improved my understanding of family and child law at a more practical level, both through the tasks carried out and in casual conversation with solicitors, and I hope to be able to bring this knowledge with me as I pursue a career in law. Work has definitely been made more enjoyable by those here at the Centre, all of whom are extremely welcoming to new volunteers. To find solicitors who, despite their workload, are so approachable and friendly is also really refreshing. I cannot speak more highly of the SCLC and the work they do here, and feel privileged to have completed an internship with them.

Liam

‘Take Note’

Yesterday I helped with one of the Centre’s ‘Take Note’ cases. This is the Additional Support Needs Tribunal Service. The case concerns a boy whom was refused a place in a new school although he suffers from serious health problems. I helped as a translator because the parent is from Poland. It was hard work but very interesting!

Marta