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Paralegal skills and establishing an Advice Centre

Establishing an Advice Centre

Paralegals working in advice centres are there to serve the community by giving people easier access to the law and to social services. An advice centre will try to help people who have problems by giving them advice, referring them to an organisation that can help them, or taking up the case on their behalf. The advice centre tries to help people learn about their rights and in this way give them the confidence to try and sort out their own problems in the future. It does this in the following ways:

• knowing and understanding the social and health services available to the community, referring people to them and supporting them in this process
• by offering a free advice service to people and taking up individual cases (in this way people learn at the same time what their rights are)
• by running public education programmes for volunteers in the office and educational workshops for community organisations.
• encouraging people to resolve disputes through methods which do not involve the law courts, such as negotiation and mediation

An advice centre should have strong links with the community which it serves so that it is always aware of the needs of that community. Usually the management committee of the advice centre consists of members elected by the community. An advice centre should also create useful relationships with other services, institutions and organisations, for example, the magistrates office, different welfare services, and so on. Factors to consider when setting up the advice centre include the following:

• The role and functions of the committee as the ‘manager' of the centre must be defined.
• Identifying the venue for the centre - the venue should be identified with the following in mind:
  • How near and how accessible will the centre be to the community it is aiming to service?
  • How near to other resources in the community should the centre be, for example social services, magistrates courts, and so on?
  • Whether the venue can be located in existing offices of other organisations, municipality etc. so that it keeps the running costs low
• Constitution - what will this include
• Budgets for running the centre
• Long-term sustainability of the centre
• Employing people for the centre and how they will be paid
• Training of employees, volunteers and committee members (where appropriate)

Consulting the community

Setting up an advice centre begins with consultations with organisations in a community. Organisations from the community should meet to discuss the need for an advice centre and to decide on its purpose. The community must decide whether it needs to be serviced by an advice centre, and the organisations must decide whether they will give the advice centre their commitment and support. There must be clarity about how the advice centre will link to the services being offered by other community organisations, municipality and government departments so that there is no conflict or competition for resources.

Setting up a managing structure for the Advice Centre

Once the community has decided that they need to have an advice centre, a committee must be elected to set this up. This committee can be called a steering committee. Its job will be to set up and guide the advice centre in its early stages before a proper management committee is elected. The Constitution must state exactly what portfolios the management committee should consist of, how its members will be elected and its powers and functions. (See Constitutions). The following are examples of different types of committees:

• Representatives from organizations - The committee consists of people who represent their organizations (in this way the organisations have a direct say in the running of the office).
• Members of organizations - The committee consists of people who are members of organisations (although not necessarily representatives of these organisations). This may exclude certain individuals who could make a valuable contribution to the advice centre, for example, a doctor, lawyer, teacher, and so on.
• Sub-committees of community organizations - Some communities prefer that the committee be drawn from a particular organisation, for example a civic association or a religious institution. This means that the management committee is directly accountable to the civic or church.
• Individuals - The committee can consist of a number of individuals drawn from the community who are broadly accountable to the community either through regular meetings or Annual General Meetings (AGMs), where all organisations are invited.

The type of committee and its accountability to the community depends on the conditions in each area as well as the available resources.

Office bearers and the work they do

In a good structure everyone knows what each person must do and everyone knows what is happening in the organisation, who to ask for what information, and who must do specific tasks. Good structures make it more difficult for a few people to take advantage of the organisation, for example, to control the money.

In organisations such as an advice centre, the management committee consists of office bearers who are responsible for the day-to-day management. This includes the chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, treasurer and ad hoc members. To decide what office bearers your committee needs, start by listing the work the committee must do. Then you can decide what office bearers you need to do each part of the work.

Before electing office bearers, it is a good idea to discuss what job each office bearer will do and what kind of person will be good for that job. For example, a treasurer must be able to do things like basic bookkeeping - understanding bank accounts, writing receipts and so on. Office bearers are responsible for the following tasks:

• The Chairperson helps to organise meetings and usually runs meetings.
• The Secretary lets people know when and where meetings will be held and takes minutes (See Meetings, Taking minutes)

• The Treasurer keeps a record of all the money that comes into the organisation and all the money that the organisation spends. The treasurer must ensure that income and expenses are in line with budgets. He or she must keep committee members informed about the organisation's finances and is also responsible for fund-raising.

Sub-committees - These are small committees which are accountable to the management committee. For example, fundraising sub-committee, project sub-committee, and so on.

Portfolios - individuals are usually given specific portfolios that they take responsibility for, for example newsletter editor, press liaison person, public relations.

Constitutions for an advice centre

Before an organisation like an advice centre writes and approves a constitution, it must be clear:

• why the organisation exists, in other words, what its aims and objectives are
• how the organisation intends to work - its policies, principles and strategies

These things must be carefully discussed in order to see whether they are appropriate to the needs of the community. This means an organisation can exist for some time before it is ready to finalise its constitution. A draft constitution can be discussed with the various stakeholders and then finally approved and adopted by the highest decision-making body.

A constitution is a set of rules and regulations that govern the structures of an organisation and how it should function. Organisations need constitutions so that people are clear about:

• the aims and objectives of the organisation (why it exists)
• who the organisation's key constituency and stakeholders are (who should benefit from its work)
• how the organisation works -
  • the structures
  • the duties of members
  • the duties of elected membership

The Constitution should be clear and simple so that members understand their rights and resopnsibilities, leaders understand their mandate and how to be accountable and members fo the public understand why the organisation exists and how it operates.

In law the constitution is called the 'founding document' and it is legally binding on the executive and members of the organisation.

The Non-profit Organisation Act (NPO Act) has detailed and clear sections on what needs to be included in the constitution of a nonprofit organisation if it wants to register under the act. (See Non-profit organizations Act)

What are the main parts of an organisation’s constitution?

1. Name

The name of the organisation.

2. Aims and objectives

• the organisation's immediate goals
• the organisation's broader political or social aims

3. Membership

• who may join
• the duties and privileges of members
• what the membership fees are

Some organisations like an advice centre may not be membership-based organisations. so they will not include a membership section.

4. Structures and decision-making

• what structures exist
• how they are formed/elected/employed/appointed
• what powers and duties each structure has
• to whom they are accountable

Structures could be:

• general meetings, including an Annual General Meeting (AGM)
• Executive Committee and/or Management Committee
• what office bearers certain structures have, for example the Executive Committee may have positions of Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer
• sub-committees
• employees
• a staff committee
• national structures
• regional structures
• branch structures
• local structures

Decision-making includes:

• what powers and duties each structure or portfolio has
• the notice period required for certain meetings
• what quorum is needed to make meetings constitutional

('Quorum' means that a certain number of members must be present at a meeting if any decisions are to be made. For example, a constitutions may say that at least two-thirds of the committee must be present at any committee meeting. Here a quorum will be two-thirds of the total number of the committee.)

5. Meeting procedure

• who will chair meetings
• what type of things will be on the agenda
• how voting will take place
• how minutes are recorded, read and approved

6. Election of office bearers

• at which structure or level office bearers are elected
• how office bearers are elected, for example by verbal nomination and show of hands, or by nomination forms and ballot papers
• how the results of the voting procedure are announced
• how vacancies are filled

7. Staff

• how staff are appointed
• what positions they hold
• what their duties are
• to whom they are accountable and how they report on their tasks and activities

8. Discipline

• what kind of behaviour is expected of members, office bearers or staff
• what kind of behaviour is unacceptable
• when an investigation or disciplinary hearing will be held
• how people may be disciplined

9. Financial control

• who is responsible for keeping records of all financial income and expenditure
• to whom is that person accountable, for example to an Executive Committee
• who can sign cheques
• how often money has to be banked and by whom
• who has to approve withdrawals from the bank account
• who must draw up financial statements
• how often these have to be submitted to a controlling structure
• when the organisation's financial year will begin and end
• when and to whom audited statements are submitted, for example to the AGM

10. Affiliation

• to whom is the organisation affiliated
• what responsibilities or duties this carries

11. Amendments to the constitution

• what percentage of the membership is needed to vote in favour of amending the constitution
• how a member or members wishing to propose an amendment go about this

12. Dissolution

• what percentage of members is needed to vote in favour of ending the organisation
• what decisions must be taken with regard to the organisation's assets
• the appointment and duties of a liquidator (the person who administers the dissolving of an organisation)

A constitution with all these parts would be very long and involved. Below is an example of a very simple constitution. You must draw up your constitution to suit the needs of your organisation.