LSA are delighted to launch the Disability and Social Justice Project with the support of the Scottish Government Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Disability and Social Justice Project has been set up to address the lack of legal provision for disabled people in Scotland.

The Disability and Social Justice Project is currently undertaking research into the experiences of people with hidden disabilities in accessing justice. If you have a hidden disability, we would be grateful if you could please complete our Survey

Please click here to complete the Survey online

Please click here to complete the Survey in an Easy Read version

We provide specialist legal advice, assistance, and representation to disabled people throughout Scotland. Our team includes those with lived experience of disability providing them with a unique understanding of the issues that disabled people face in enforcing their rights.

We can provide assistance to disabled people on a wide variety of legal issues, and encourage anyone who thinks we might be able to help to contact us to discuss how we might be able to help.

Examples of cases where we have provided support include:

• A young autistic person being denied access to a dying relative to say goodbye.
• Inappropriate social work plans prepared for an autistic man increasing the likelihood of reoffending.
• In a sibling relationship, challenging a decision to disregard a family member as a potential guardian for her brother due to her disability.
• Disabled mother discriminated against by insurance company following destruction of home by flooding.
• Challenging the refusal by a social landlord, in terms of their allocations policy, to recognise a form of mental ill health as resulting in medical need for rehousing;
• Pursuing a claim for compensation for a tenant of a social landlord who was denied the opportunity to apply for a house due to her disability;
• Defending eviction proceedings raised against a tenant who was accused of antisocial behaviour where the behaviour complained of was a feature of the tenant’s disability;
• Pursuing a claim for compensation for a claimant of disability benefits against the Department of Work & Pensions where they had failed to make adjustments to a policy requiring the claimant to attend  in person assessments.

These are just a few examples of the ways we can support individual disabled people in navigating legal issues. We also look to address systemic policy and practice issues through identifying cases suitable for strategic litigation and pursuing these in the courts.

We will be collaborating with Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) and disabled communities to improve knowledge of the legal issues faced by disabled people in Scotland. This is achieved through creating information resources and providing training to a wide variety of people including disabled communities, the general public, charitable organisations, private organisations and governmental organisations.

The Disability and Social Justice Project is delivered by the Legal Services Agency through funding provided by the Scottish Ministers through the Equality and Human Rights Fund.