About
We put the power of the law into communities so they can fight back.
The Public Interest Law Centre is a team of experienced lawyers committed to fighting for social change.
There is deepening racial and migrant scapegoating in the media. The housing emergency and public cuts are damaging thousands of people's quality of life.
The imbalance of power suffocates the rights and freedoms of ordinary people.
We challenge unlawful state practice and systemic injustice through legal representation, strategic litigation, research and legal education.
We will not rest until we see a fairer and more equitable society.
We take cases on Legal Aid in public law, claims against public authorities and housing. We also represent individuals, groups and organisations in public inquiries.
We bring cases to court for individuals and grassroots groups who have been treated unfairly. We hold government and public bodies to account. We challenge unlawful policies and practices.
We specialise in:
- Holding state and corporate power to account
- Defending housing, land and community assets
- Promoting racial justice and migrants’ rights
Public funding for legal representation has been decimated.
If you're an individual donor or grant funder and want to find out how you can contribute, check out our fundraising information.
How we work
We bring our expertise in strategic legal action to build power and seek justice with working class and marginalised communities campaigning for social change.
Most of our work emerges from the relationships we have with grassroots groups, frontline organisations, campaigners and activists across our areas of expertise.
We cannot overstate the importance of building and maintaining relationships with those affected by dispossession, discrimination, injustice, as well as frontline workers supporting them. None of the work we do would be possible without this foundation.
We set our priorities and direction for our litigation from those relationships and co-produce litigation strategies with the groups we represent.
Building power is not unilateral. As lawyers, we are not giving power through access to the law. We rely on communities’ knowledge and experience to develop legal challenges. Together we work to shift the balance of power using strategic legal action as a tactic to change the law and its applications so that it benefits those at the grassroots who have been dispossessed and marginalised.
We build many of our strategic legal challenges from individual cases by showing how the issues involved impact a wide range of people. We also act on behalf of grassroots groups or frontline organisations campaigning on issues they cannot change through policy or campaigning work alone. The aim in much of our litigation is not only to set legal precedents and change wider policy and practice but also to strengthen the power of campaigners to change the law for the benefits of working class and marginalised communities.
- We are creative in how we develop legal arguments.
- We are tenacious because we know the odds are stacked against the communities we represent.
- We are tactical because legal action alone will not bring about the change our communities need.
We are always open about the limitations of the law. We work on the principle that we do not take agency away from the people we represent. We do this by not platforming the law above other campaigning tactics and by never substituting ourselves for the campaign. We always advise groups and campaigners we work with that the legal case is one tactic amongst many, which remains secondary to the overall aims of the campaign. This also enables us to build and maintain open and honest relationships with our clients and partners that are based on shared values and last beyond specific legal cases.
We support working class and marginalised communities and those who support them through legal education about rights, entitlements and the legal process itself, recognising that process and outcomes are not separate. This comes in various forms:
- online/in-person workshops about rights/entitlements (with interpreters where preferable),
- pre/post-litigation meetings with campaigners to support co-production,
- legal briefings published online and shared with other legal/non-legal organisations
- second-tier advice to frontline organisations and grassroots groups
We are also interested in learning together with other legal practitioners. We convene various legal networks including:
- Gypsy and Traveller Law Network
- Planning Law group for Law Centres (with Southwark Law Centre)
- Domestic Abuse and Housing Forum
We highlight injustice through research and communications.
Investigations help us evidence unlawful policies and practices communities experience on a daily basis.
We publicise legal successes to ensure positive outcomes in the court.
We ensure that the social justice issues at the heart of our work don’t get lost.
We will not rest until we see a fairer and more equitable society.
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244-254 Cambridge Heath Road London E2 9DA
Phone: 0203 559 6342
Contact us
© Public Interest Law Centre
Charitable Incorporated Organisation in England & Wales - no: 1192355
Registered office: 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9DA