Refugee Legal Centre

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The Refugee Legal Centre is an independent, not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity, providing a free legal service to asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdom. It seeks to promote the interests of its clients not just through the law but also in contributing to the public debate on asylum policy and procedures, at the national and European level. The organisation is headquartered in central London, with offices in Bedford, Birmingham, Croydon, Dover, Hastings, Ipswich, Leeds, Nottingham, Portsmouth, and West London.

In 2005 the RLC was given a human rights award from Liberty, Justice and the Law Society for 'consistent and fearless use of the law to protect human rights and hold immigration and asylum policies up to the scrutiny of the courts'.

Background

The Refugee Legal Centre was founded in 1992^[1] to be a centre for the provision of quality legal representation for those seeking protection under the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and those who fear breaches of their Human Rights. The roots of the Refugee Legal Centre goes back to the Refugee Unit of the UK Immigrants Advisory Service, which was founded in 1976^[2] as a legal assistance project for asylum seekers funded by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Refugee Legal Centre is a registered charity and governed by an independent Board of Trustees. The quality of its work is subject to the regulations of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, (OISC).

Funding The RLC is funded through a contract with the Legal Services Commission[1]^[3].

Governance The RLC is goverened by a baord of trustees. They are:

President: Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, Fellow of All Souls College University of Oxford
Chairman: Charles Morland
CEO: Caroline Slocock
Leonie Hirst
Yemane Tsegai
Andrew Hutchinson
John Humpston
Hilary Pinder
Ruth Bundey
Annie Ledger