Legal help
We provide direct legal advice and representation to survivors of trafficking and slavery.
ATLEU are the best solicitors I have ever met in this country, for listening, understanding, encouraging, everything.
ATLEU client and survivor of trafficking
Who we assist
We provide free, specialist, holistic legal advice and representation to adults, young people and children who have experienced trafficking, slavery and labour exploitation.
We take cases for individuals who are eligible for legal aid. The legal aid rules require you to pass a financial test ➔ to show you have a low income and do not have enough money to pay for advice.
The demand for our advice services is high which means we sadly cannot always take on new clients.
Areas of advice
Our lawyers provide advice and representation on a range of issues:
We can advise on your entitlement to legal aid and challenge refusals of legal aid.
Our online referral system
You can now sign up online to make or receive referrals for survivors of trafficking and slavery. All ATLEU solicitors will receive your referrals through this system, as well as legal aid advisors around the country.
Visit referrals.athub.org.uk
To refer yourself or a client for legal advice please complete the form below ➔
Please provide a few lines about the main issues and background to the case, to help us understand the help that you are looking for. Our team reviews referrals weekly and will get back to you as soon as we can. If the referral is very urgent please call our office ➔
Asylum and Immigration
We take cases for survivors of trafficking and slavery, across England and Wales. Our immigration lawyers advise on different immigration options including:
Applying for different types of leave to remain / permission to stay
Claiming asylum
Extending or switching visa / leave to remain
Challenge trafficking
decisions
We take cases for survivors of trafficking and slavery, across England and Wales. Our public lawyers can advise on challenging a range of decisions made by a public authority (eg. the Home Office) that relate to trafficking/modern slavery.
Negative Reasonable Grounds decision
Negative Conclusive Grounds decision
Refusal of leave to remain as a victim of trafficking
Disqualification from support on public order or bad faith grounds
Housing and support
We take cases for survivors of trafficking and slavery, across England and Wales. Our housing and public lawyers advise on a range of issues around homelessness, housing, subsistence, care and support, for survivors with and without leave to remain. This includes:
Survivors entering / in the NRM who need:
Accommodation prior to being identified as a victim of trafficking
To challenge a refusal of NRM accommodation or support
Accommodation while challenging a trafficking decision
Help claiming unpaid subsistence
Survivors who need:
Accommodation when claiming asylum / applying for leave to remain
Accommodation when asylum / leave to remain is refused
Survivors who need assistance from a local authority because they are:
Homeless and vulnerable/at risk
Homeless and have a child
Living in unsuitable accommodation
Renting a property and facing eviction
Compensation
We take cases for survivors of trafficking and slavery, across England and Wales, and can advise on different options for recovering compensation. These include:
Criminal injuries compensation
Claims against the perpetrator (trafficker)
Employment claims
Claims against the police and public authorities.
Legal aid is available for most cases and you do not require a positive Reasonable or Conclusive Grounds decision.
To obtain compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), we can assist with making an Exceptional Case Funding application.
Cases against the police
and public authorities
We take cases for survivors of trafficking and slavery, across England and Wales, who are unhappy with a public authority’s decision or with how a public authority has behaved towards them.(for example, because they were detained, discriminated against, or left at risk) or where the police haven't properly investigated trafficking.
These cases can help to hold the state to account for their actions.
The types of case that we can assist with include:
Police complaints
Victim's Right to Review of decisions by police not to charge and by Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute
Claims against public authorities (eg. police, local authority, Home Office) for failures to protect and breaches of human rights.
We take cases in the Employment Tribunal, Immigration Tribunal, the County Court and the High Court. We also take cases on Judicial Review and on appeal in the higher courts (the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court).
Request legal help
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