About Al-Adli

Law for liberation. People before punishment.

Al-Adli is a community-rooted legal collective. We use the law as one tool among many to protect people - never to prop up punishment or state control. We work alongside those targeted by policing, punitive family systems and border violence. 

Our goal isn’t to patch a broken machine; it’s to build the power and alternatives that make it obsolete.

Why “Al-Adli”?

“Al-Adli” draws from the Arabic root ʿ-d-l, associated with justice, fairness and balance. For us, justice is something we build together - solidarity, care and real accountability in our communities, not something handed down by courts or police.

Who we are

We’re led by people with lived experience of the systems we challenge - survivors of policing and imprisonment, people who’ve faced family separation, migrants navigating the border regime, and disabled organisers and carers. That experience shapes what we prioritise, how we show up, and how we keep each other safe. (We never share names, faces or personal details without informed consent.)

What we stand for

• Abolition, not reform: end prisons, policing and punitive family courts; grow justice that heals.
  
  

• Care and consent: people’s safety first; no identifying details without permission.
  
  

• Human rights with teeth: use legal strategy where it shields people; policy ≠ law, and law ≠ justice.
  
  

• Community defence: we stand with people, not institutions.
  
  

What we do

Direct support & representation • Know-Your-Rights education • Campaigns & advocacy • Building non-punitive community alternatives.

Get involved

• Low-bar: Sign up for updates and trainings (coming soon)
  
  

• Medium: Volunteer for court support/legal observing
  
  

• High: Join the rapid-response rota or host a teach-in
  
  

Our commitments

• Safeguarding & data minimisation: We collect the bare minimum, store it securely, and delete it when it’s no longer needed.

• Accessibility: Plain language, high contrast, alt text and captions; large-print and Easy Read on request.

• Language: Translations offered where possible - tell us what you need.

• Transparency: We publish short impact notes and a summary of finances each year.