Community Law and Mediation

opis organizacji

Community Law and Mediation (CLM)was set up in 1975 as a prototype law centre and campaign tool in the movement for civil legal aid, CLM has been a pioneering organisation in the provision of community based legal and mediation services. With the establishment of a second law centre in
Limerick in 2012, the community CLM serves has grown beyond the original catchment area of Coolock and includes anyone who, because of economic, social or other disadvantage, is unable to access the services CLM provides. CLM works to empower individuals experiencing disadvantage through three strands of service provision.
These are:
• information and education;
• legal advice and representation; and
• mediation and conflict coaching.

CLM also seeks to have a wider impact through law reform work and by providing legal advice and training to other advocacy organisations on issues affecting their service users. As an integral part of its operation, CLM continuously assesses areas of legal need in the community and determines how best to respond to that need. For example, in the last five years, we have worked in the area of housing and homelessness in the following ways:
- Published a user friendly homelessness information guide.
- Delivered free community talks on housing rights.
- Delivered 16 legal advice clinics per month including 3 outreach clinics specialising in housing and homelessness.
- Published a social housing guide for advocates.
- Provided legal advocacy and representation in 237 housing cases.
- Appeared before the Emergency Dail Committee on Housing and Homelessness.
- Completed several law reform submissions and round tables in the area of housing and homelessness.

Through our legal service in 2017, CLM represented clients before the Social Welfare Appeals Office and issued proceedings on behalf of a separated father and his child on the basis that they were not properly assessed for housing allocation by a local authority. CLM also successfully represented several families who were refused priority for homeless accommodation and took a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) case on behalf of a client claiming discrimination under the Equal Status Acts on the Housing Assistance Ground. CLM represented Traveller families, some with significant medical difficulties, living in seriously substandard conditions. We also successfully represented a number of clients in the WRC in relation to the employer’s reasonable accommodation obligation to employees suffering from a disability.

In the area of law reform, CLM has produced a number of submissions including a submission to the Law Reform Commission on possible projects for the fifth programme of law reform. We also commenced work on the accessibility of social housing support for members of the Travelling Community with focus on the Caravan Loan Scheme. We also held a round table with key stakeholders to examine the challenges faced by applicants who have mental health difficulties in accessing social welfare payments and by recipients who are subject to a medical review process.