Parliamentarian Link:

We have established a link between the Aberdeen Law Project and Parliamentarians within Aberdeen City and Shire. This initiative, the first of its kind, allows the subscribed parliamentarians to refer legal questions from their constituents to the Aberdeen Law Project for a without liability legal opinion.   We at the project are therefore able to supplement the resources available to our parliamentarians through supporting them in identifying and advising upon legal solutions to local problems.  

As well as researching the law on specific constituent problems, the Aberdeen Law Project advisors also produce papers proposing law reform which are shared with the parliamentarians. 

Educational Outreach:

Our educational outreach program may be sub-divided into three strands:

School Workshops:

Inspired by the ‘Mini Trials’ initiative created by Lord Kinclaven, the Aberdeen Law Project regularly provide school workshops for local primary and secondary schools.  These extremely popular events are free and can be requested by emailing our schools team at: abdnlawproject@gmail.com

During a ‘trial day’ the Aberdeen Law Project students lead a series of discussion groups with the pupils on the Court process, the Court layout and the roles of Court personnel.  Pupils are thereafter allocated their roles for the mock trial and spend some time with a student supervisor in preparation.  The day concludes with pupils undertaking the mock trial. The pupils involved so far have found these workshops to be great fun, as well as informative. We feel that our schools projects are worthwhile as the children are introduced to our legal system, making it a little less alien and intimidating.

Legal System and Substantive Law Lectures:

Aberdeen Law Project participants have developed a short lecture series looking at the Scottish legal system.  This series was developed for use by Advanced Higher Modern Studies pupils, but we are able to offer lectures to other interested groups. These lectures are designed to assist pupils with their Advanced Higher course, but are also of particular interest to those considering a career in Law or who simply want to understand a little more about the criminal court process.

Our students are also available to give educational lectures to young people on their legal rights. These can be arranged through local community centres, youth groups etc. Topics include:

Promoting Higher Education:

We at the Aberdeen Law Project work hard to encourage those from all backgrounds, but particularly non-traditional backgrounds, to pursue higher education.  Aberdeen Law Project students are more than willing to speak with young people considering an application to university.  We, as law students, are particularly well placed to assist with applications to law schools, but we are also able to provide information on the university experience, grants and UCAS.  

Community Links:

It is a founding principle of the Aberdeen Law Project that the interests of those within Aberdeen and the wider North East community are best served by a law project that supports existing services.  We therefore maintain a close relationship with a number of community groups and charities – including Grampian Woman’s Aid to whom we provide staff training on the law; and Fersands Community Group, where we host drop-in centres. 

If you are a community group that would like assistance from the Aberdeen Law Project, please email our community interests team outlining the name of your group, the nature of its work and the manner in which you believe our project could assist. We will do our best to establish a partnership with all organisations that seek our assistance.