INCLUSIVE LAW SCHOOL CLINICS
Institutionalizing Effective and Accountable Justice for All
Keywords:
Sustainable Development Goals, Access to Justice, Law school, Clinical Legal Education, Legal Aid Clinics, Rule of Law, and People's ParticipationAbstract
Poor people are often denied access to the courts due to expensive legal fees. Preventing free access to justice violates a fundamental constitutional principle and universal international norms. The recognition of access to justice and the rule of law as outcomes and facilitators of sustainable development is a unique feature of the 2030 Agenda. This study shows that providing affordable and timely access to justice institutions and legal aid services will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 16 targets of peace, justice, and strong institutions. Indian law school clinics have a unique opportunity to achieve the goal through institutionalized clinical legal education. The Advocates Act of 1961 requires an amendment to allow law students and faculty to represent pro bono clients. The study infers that completely institutionalizing the law school legal aid clinics as part of clinical legal education is a powerful platform to promote equal access to justice to all.
References
Beqiraj, J. and McNamara, L. “International Access to Justice: Barriers and Solutions,” Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law Report 02/2014, International Bar Association, October 2014.19,14
Government of India. Report on National Juridicare: Equal Justice- Social Justice, 1977.
Government of India. “Report on Processual Justice to the People: Report of Expert Committee on Legal Aid,” 27 May 1973 <http://reports.mca.gov.in/Reports/15-Iyer%20committee%20report%20of%20the%20expert%20committee%20in%20legal%20aid,%201973.pdf > (16 April 2021).
International Council for Science and International Social Science Council. “Review of Targets for the Sustainable Development Goals: The Science Perspective” 2015. <https://council.science/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SDG-Report.pdf. 11 April 2021.
James E. Moliterno. “Future of Integration between Skills and Ethics Teaching: Clinical Legal Education in the Year 2010.” Journal of Legal Education, 46.1 (1996): 67-78.
Jeet Singh Mann. “Impact Analysis of the Legal Aid Services Provided By the Empaneled Legal Practitioners on the Legal Aid System in City of Delhi.” Final Report: Research Project Under UGC Research Award 2012-14, (2017). http://nludelhi.ac.in/download/2017/dec-2017/UGC%20Research%20Award%20in%20Law%202014.pdf. 16 April 2021.
Kemp, Vicky et. al. “Clinical Legal Education and Experiential Learning: Looking to the Future”, Report commissioned by The University of Manchester, the School of Law. 2016. <https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78911073.pdf> 21 April 2021.
Krishnan, Jayanth K., et al. “Grappling at the Grassroots: Access to Justice in India’s Lower Tier.” Harvard Human Rights Journal 27 (2014): 151-190.
Micheal R. Anderson. “Access to Justice and Legal Process: Making Legal Institutions Responsive to Poor People in LDCs”, IDS Working Paper 178 (2003).
Ministry of Finance, Government of India. “Expenditure Budget 2021-2022: Statement of Budget Estimates.” <<https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/allsbe.pdf> (8 April 2021).
Mitra, Darshana. “No one should go unrepresented: Legal aid clinic will assist those excluded from NRC.” Newslaundry 07 October 2019
Munby, James. “Dignity, Happiness and Human Rights.” Elder Law Journal, vol. 20.1 (2011): 32-38.
Nandhikkara, Jose. “Towards Sustainable Societies.” Journal of Dharma 46.1 (2021): 3-8.
NITI Aayog, Government of India. “India Voluntary National Review 2017 on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.” <https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16693India.pdf. 8 April 2021.
NITI Aayog, Government of India. “India Voluntary National Review 2020: Decade of Action Taking SDGs from Global to Local.” <https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26279VNR_2020_India_Report.pdf. 8 April 2021.
NITI Aayog, Government of India. “SDG India Index Baseline Report 2018.” <https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2020-07/SDX_Index_India_Baseline_Report_21-12-2018.pdf. 8 April 2021
NITI Aayog, Government of India. “SDG India Index & Dashboard 2019-20.” <https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2020-07/SDG-India-Index-2.0.pdf. 8 April 2021.
Parliament of India. Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, Gazette of India, 2008. <https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2060/1/200904.pdf> 16 April 2021.
Parliament of India. “Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987” Gazette of India, 1987. <https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1925/1/198739.pdf. 16 April 2021.
Satterthwaite, Margaret L. and Dhital, Sukhti. “Measuring Access to Justice: Transformation and Technicality in SDG 16.3”, Global Policy 10.1 (2019): 96-107.
Supreme Court of India. “Summary of Types of Matters Pending in Supreme Court”. <<https://main.sci.gov.in/statistics> 16 April 2021.
Sylvester, C. “Through a Glass Darkly: Assessment of Real Client, Compulsory Clinic in an Undergraduate Law Programme.” International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 1, 23.
United Nations Children’s Fund. Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and Trends in Birth Registration (2013). <https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/Embargoed_11_Dec_Birth_Registration_report_low_res.pdf. 16 April 2021.
United Nations Economic and Social Council “Note by Secretariat: Institutional arrangements for the Sustainable Development Goals” Doc. No. E/C.16/2017/5, 30 December 2017. <https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/859146?ln=en> 12 April 2021.
United Nations, General Assembly, “A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015”, U.N. Doe. A/68/202, 26 July, 2013. <https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/A%20Life%20of%20Dignity%20for%20All.pdf> 16 April 202.
United Nations General Assembly. “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, 999 UNTS 171, Can TS 1976 No 47 (1976). <https://www.ohchr.org/documents/professionalinterest/ccpr.pdf> 16 April 2021.
United Nations, General Assembly. “Report of the UN Secretary-General on Delivering justice: Programme of action to strengthen the rule of law at the national and international levels” UN Doc. A/66/749, 16 March 2012 <https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/66/749> 12 April 2021.
United Nations General Assembly. “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” Doc. No. A/70/PV.4, 25 September 2015. <https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E> 16 April 2021.
United Nations, General Assembly. “United Nations Millennium Declaration,” Res No. A/RES/55/2, 18 September 2000. <https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/Millennium.aspx> 12 April 2021.
United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office. “Government of India and the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework 2018-2022”, UNESCO, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2018 <https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/unsdf_india_2018-2022.pdf> 10 April 2021
UNODC and UNDP. “Guidance Note: Ensuring Access to Justice in the context of COVID-19.”, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Development Programme, May 2020. <https://www.unodc.org/documents/Advocacy-Section/Ensuring_Access_to_Justice_in_the_Context_of_COVID-191.pdf> 11 April 2021.
