Herald Law Award win for GO Justice Centre
Published: 10 November 2025
The UofG's GO Justice Centre has won The Herald Pro Bono Award for helping to train the next generation of socially conscious lawyers.
The UofG's GO Justice Centre has won The Herald Pro Bono Award at the Herald Law Awards 2025.
The award recognises the Centre’s innovative pro bono initiatives, which are helping to train the next generation of socially conscious lawyers.
Based in the School of Law, the Glasgow Open Justice (GO Justice) Centre aims to empower individuals and communities to use the law to access justice and achieve fair outcomes.
It is home to the Emma Ritch Law Clinic and the Lawyering for Social Change: Racial Justice Clinic, pioneering projects which are addressing inequalities in the legal system, including access to advice and advocacy.
In addition, the Centre’s Community Legal Education Clinic has worked in partnership with the Marie Trust, a homelessness charity, to design and deliver rights-based public legal education. Earlier this year, the Centre won Best Contribution by a Law School at the LawWorks Student Pro Bono Awards 2025.
Professor Maria Fletcher, co-director of the Centre, and Cameron Wong McDermott, co-director of the Racial Justice Clinic said: “We’re incredibly proud of our students and staff, whose enthusiasm and dedication to using the law for positive social change is unswerving. We are committed to enhancing access to justice through the design and delivery of social justice legal education and research. In recent years, we have developed new law clinics, pro bono projects, and research in important areas of legal need including homelessness, sexual violence, racial justice and children's rights together with our civil society partners. We are delighted to receive this award.”
“I feel incredibly lucky to contribute to bringing justice closer to those who cannot easily access it through my involvement with the GO Justice Centre,” said Doga Goundouz, law student. “Working with the Emma Ritch Law Clinic has been the most rewarding experience of my degree. Supporting survivors navigating the criminal justice system and witnessing their resilience has been truly inspiring. I am also grateful to have such a dedicated team at the GO Justice Centre who devote their time to advancing social justice.”
Law student Hailey Schmidt added: “Being part of GO Justice and working with both the Marie Trust and the British Red Cross has been a genuinely eye-opening experience. Engaging directly with individuals navigating crisis challenged my assumptions about how the law operates day-to-day and has shaped the kind of lawyer I want to become. It has deepened my commitment to widening access to justice in meaningful, practical ways.”
The Herald Law Awards of Scotland recognise the greatest achievements across Scotland’s legal sector.
The GO Justice team accepted the award at a ceremony hosted by Rob Rinder (aka Judge Rinder), which took place in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow on Friday, 7 November.
First published: 10 November 2025