STOP 3: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND Organisations and Individuals I Met With / Activities Engaged In: (a) Meeting: Liverpool Law Clinic, University of Liverpoolxcix Judith Carter, Solicitor and Lecturer, Law, Liverpool Law Clinic, University of Liverpool Johanna Bezzano, Solicitor, Merseyside Law Centre, (Former In-house solicitor and lecturer, Law, Liverpool Law School, University of Liverpool) The Liverpool Law Clinic was established in 2007 to give general advice. It became regulated to provide immigration advice in 2013. Since then, lawyers and students have advised and represented people who are stateless and at risk of statelessness. The Clinic is led by specialist immigration solicitors who have national expertise in statelessness-based applications to the UK’s Home Office – where it provides full representation (casework) for application for permission to stay in the UK and to register as British citizens on the grounds of statelessness. The Clinic was developed for the following key reasons: (i) Legal Need: A scoping exercise in 2012 identified that there were many failed asylum seekers living in the Liverpool area, who needed assistance to resolve their immigration status. In 2013 the Home Office introduced a procedure for people to request leave to remain in the UK on the basis that they are stateless and not admissible to any other country (discussed above). The procedure allowed some of those people to resolve their status and the Law Clinic developed national expertise. The Clinic was introduced with the aim of addressing what was a clear gap in provision of legal advice and assistance to people in this area, with advice and representation on statelessness outside the scope of legal aid. (ii) Education: the Liverpool Law Clinic is part of the University of Liverpool School of Law and Social Justice. The Clinic aims to teach law students though ‘enquiry-based learning’; 51