Legal Services Agency

Constitutional objectives

The SCIO's purposes are: To relieve those in need by reason of their age, physical or mental ill health, lack of capacity, disability, ethnicity, financial hardship or poverty, social exclusion or other disadvantage by increasing the availability of, facilitating access to, or providing or funding legal advice, assistance and representation for such individuals, or their relatives and carers (but only where they live in or have a connection with, Scotland). To prevent or relieve poverty, to advance citizenship and community development and to advance human rights and equalities (where the advancement of human rights relates, in particular, but not exclusively to, the promotion of the integrity and dignity of the person, availability of civil remedies and the advancement of the right to respect for private and family life enshrined by the European Convention on Human Rights, and where the advancement of equalities relates to the prevention of discrimination on the grounds of, or promotion of diversity relating to, any of the protected characteristics), by increasing the availability of, facilitating access to, funding or providing of legal advice, assistance and representation in such a way that enhances the ability of otherwise disadvantaged individuals to understand and pursue their rights and obtain appropriate remedies. and To advance education and to increase knowledge and awareness and facilitate access to remedies in regard to legal rights and responsibilities in the fields of social welfare and housing law, human rights, equalities, incapacity and mental health law and relevant public and private law remedies, including (without prejudice to that generality) legal rights and responsibilities relating to asylum, homelessness, social security, debt, consumer matters, equal opportunities and equalities, immigration, the rights of victims of crimes or accidents, employment rights, children, social work, mental health and incapacity, and such other fields of which knowledge awareness and access to remedies requires to be enhanced as shall be determined by the charity trustees from time-to-time.