Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland

"I’ve seen the legal aid system decimated, and the poor, vulnerable, and weak are unable to get justice.” The decision of Anwar's law firm to stop taking on #legalaid cases is part of a wider trend caused by Scotland's broken legal aid system. 🔴 Legal aid enables people to get advice, assistance, and representation from a solicitor if they could otherwise not afford it. But financially unsustainable fees are forcing solicitors in Scotland to abandon these cases. Scotland must radically reform legal aid to ensure that people can get legal representation to access justice. ➡️ Read article on Holyrood magazine: https://lnkd.in/dds_mnrV ➡️ Find out what reforms are needed to fix legal aid in Scotland in our joint briefing with Human Rights Consortium Scotland & JustRight Scotland: https://lnkd.in/dnEFGhB4

'Residents can “see and smell” sewage pouring into the Water of Leith' Despite of local concern over sewage pollution, SEPA rejected the City of Edinburgh Council's request to test for bacteria in the Water of Leith because they are not obliged to do so by Scotland's current environmental regulations. 👉🏽 Hear more about this case from Leith resident Jim Jarvie in our Lunchtime 101 webinar this Thursday: https://lnkd.in/dZd3Jzri Feature on the i: https://lnkd.in/d9xg3PMS

Do you have a ticket for our Lunchtime 101 info webinar this week? 👇🏽 Join us on Thursday to hear from community campaigners about the gaps in and insufficient enforcement of regulations around #sewage pollution in Scotland. Book: https://lnkd.in/dYGqUnqe

“Sitka is self-seeding and appearing on the hillside and on the peat" 🔴 The Save Warblaw Hill Group is calling attention to the environmental impacts of commercial conifers that have spread to the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. This issue affects communities and nature across Scotland: non-native conifers are spreading invasively beyond commercial tree plantations. Feature on The Scotsman: https://lnkd.in/dVKTf5Wk Find out more 👇🏽 > Community campaigner Audrey Baird's blog explains how Sitka spruce threatens Scotland's remaining native woodlands: https://lnkd.in/du_rM7KN > Our Lunchtime 101 info webinar on systemic issues in Scotland's commercial forestry policy: https://lnkd.in/dSzqGZF9 > Next Lunchtime 101 on 31 October will be on sewage pollution: https://lnkd.in/dZd3Jzri > Scottish Environment LINK's INNS report has an informative case study on Sitka: https://lnkd.in/d8GDJzEY

Are you interested in environmental law? Then this is the #ProBonoWeek event for you! 🍃 Bringing together Faculty of Advocates, Environmental Law Foundation and Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, hear from both lawyers who have undertaken #ProBono environmental cases, and from the communities that have benefited from them ⚖️ 📅 Wednesday 6th November 🕕 6-8pm 📍 Laigh Hall, Edinburgh Speakers include Ben Christman (Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland), Emma Montlake (Environmental Law Foundation) and Jessica Allen (No5 Barristers' Chambers) The panel and Q&A discussion will be followed by networking and refreshments 🤝 Register here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eGBMQGNb #WeDoProBono #EnvironmentalLaw #Networking #Law #Legal #Environment

Next week! Join our final Lunchtime 101 this year to hear from community campaigners trying to hold public bodies to account on ensuring our waterways are clean and safe. Scotland’s network of over 3,500 sewer overflows is ageing and mostly unmonitored: Scottish Water recorded over 15,000 spills in 2022-2023, which covers only 4% of sewer overflows. ➡️ Joining us to speak will be Pippa Scott from River Almond Action Group (RAAG) & Jim Jarvie from Save Our Shore Leith (SOSLeith). Both groups have experienced insufficient enforcement and control of sewage pollution in their local rivers. 📅 1-2pm, Thursday 31 October 2023 📍 Online 🎟️ Free, book: https://lnkd.in/dMPq49U7

🔵 Our guide on the biodiversity duty in Scotland is out now. Starting this week, nations are gathering in Cali for #COP16Colombia to review and develop actions to implement the Convention of Biological Diversity. The Convention aims to conserve and further the sustainable use of biodiversity, and ensure that the benefits of using genetic resources are fairly distributed. In Scotland, public bodies have a legal duty to conserve #biodiversity which requires them to take the Convention into account when making decisions. 🔎 Our guide explains what the biodiversity duty covers, who is responsible & how to challenge failures to comply. ➡️ Read the guide: https://lnkd.in/er6mtb5i

"Ongoing financial barriers have prevented communities and organisations from taking environmental cases to court." Since 2021, we have been tracking Scotland's progress on making #environmentaljustice affordable. We must be able to stand up for environmental protections in a court of law, but the Scottish Government has repeatedly failed to fulfil its legal obligations under the UN Aarhus Convention and provide an accessible route to justice. How can this be changed? ➡️ Read our opinion piece on Third Force News: https://lnkd.in/dDxu7eCK ➡️ For more detail, read our briefing on Scotland's lack of progress on delivering access to justice: https://lnkd.in/dh_s2CNd

"Ongoing financial barriers have prevented communities and organisations from taking environmental cases to court." Since 2021, we have been tracking Scotland's progress on making #environmentaljustice affordable. We must be able to stand up for environmental protections in a court of law, but the Scottish Government has repeatedly failed to fulfil its legal obligations under the UN Aarhus Convention and provide an accessible route to justice. How can this be changed? ➡️ Read our opinion piece on Third Force News: https://lnkd.in/dDxu7eCK ➡️ For more detail, read our briefing on Scotland's lack of progress on delivering access to justice: https://lnkd.in/dh_s2CNd

Are you interested in using the law to protect the environment? Check out two opportunities to join our team at ERCS: Administration Officer 📍 Edinburgh, hybrid Salary: £26,500 per annum More details: https://lnkd.in/esqgBFmJ Closing date: 5pm Friday 18 October 2024 Solicitor 📍 Edinburgh, hybrid Salary: £41,280 – £45,000 per annum depending on experience (pro rata) More details: https://lnkd.in/dTU_M_nk Closing date: 10am Monday 4 November 2024