Strategic Legal Fund: Advancing Justice for Migrants in the UK

Deadline: 01-Jul-21

Applications are invited for the Strategic Legal Fund (SLF) to support legal work in the UK that goes beyond securing justice for an individual and makes a significant contribution to law, practice and procedures to uphold and promote the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants more generally.

The SLF aims to tackle injustices and inconsistencies in law and practice that disadvantage or discriminate against asylum seekers, refugees and migrants as a result of their migration status.

Beneficiaries

The SLF supports strategic legal work in the UK which benefits asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. They define this as those:

• Who are living in poverty, and
• Who face significant disadvantage or discrimination in connection with their immigration status.

Funding Information

• Maximum funding for any one application will be £30,000 but, in view of the limited funding available, lower applications are encouraged.
• The average grant size is around £12,000.

Areas of Law

The SLF funds strategic legal work in any area of law where asylum seekers, refugees and migrants experience disadvantage or discrimination as a result of migration status. This includes (but is not restricted to) potential cases in the areas of:

• Immigration
• Asylum and asylum support
• Human rights
• Education
• Housing
• Welfare benefits
• Discrimination
• Access to justice
• Community care

Eligibility Criteria

Those eligible to apply to the SLF are organisations based in the UK which are:

• Not-for-profit (NFP) organisations that provide specialist level legal advice to people discriminated or disadvantaged by their migration status. If you work for a NFP organisation regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) and are applying to undertake work in the asylum or immigration field, you must confirm that staff leading on the proposed work are accredited at Level 3, Advocacy and Representation, in the relevant category of law.
• Firms of solicitors that provide specialist level legal advice to people discriminated or disadvantaged by their migration status. Solicitors’ firms need to demonstrate that the funded work does not include any element of profit and, as for all applicants, that there is a pro bono element included.
• All applicants must demonstrate that staff has appropriate skills, experience and expertise to undertake the strategic legal work proposed. All applicants are asked to provide supporting documents with their application, for example annual accounts, governing documents, or other financial information.
• The SLF welcomes applications from specialist legal representatives working in partnership with voluntary and community groups, who may be able to assist with research, gathering evidence and identifying clients.  This type of application should be made by the legal representative with the other organisation(s) being sub-contracted to do the work at an appropriate rate.

For more information, visit http://strategiclegalfund.org.uk/