UN Day of Social Justice: Focus on Human Rights Law Clinic

Human Rights Law Clinic Students 2015/16

Ben Hudson, Human Rights Law Clinic Student Director

Press release issued: 20 February 2016

Working in the Human Rights Law Clinic, students gain invaluable experience working with international, regional and national organisations engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights law.

Today is the World Day of Social Justice and an opportunity to celebrate the Human Rights Law Clinic (HRLC) and the work it does supporting students play a practical role in the drive to make social justice a reality for all.

Founded in 2009, HRLC integrates students into the Law School's Human Rights Implementation Centre’s work and helps students acquire knowledge and experience in international human rights law and practice.

The projects that this year’s students are working on include

the protection of the right of assembly
the right to freedom of speech
the right to information
the right to life (and protection from extra-judicial killings)
torture prevention
the use of interim measures by international and regional human rights bodies
and the production of case digests

All projects are international in scope, yet also have an impact at the regional and local levels.

This year’s clinic members were appointed in October 2015, following a competitive application process. Thirty-three human rights and/or international law students have been working in teams with partners including the Open Society Justice Initiative (London and New York offices), MASUM (India), and Redress (London).

Each team has been tasked with conducting comprehensive, high-quality research that meets the requirements set out by the partners in their initial project briefs. It is the role of each team leader (who is also a student) to liaise directly with the partner organisations throughout the research and to ensure that all final outputs are of the highest quality.

By the end of this academic year, the students will have produced a series of high-quality reports, each of which will provide partners with crucial, up-to-date research that will feed directly into ongoing litigation and policy drafting, as well as informing future projects.

Being involved with the Clinic is of tremendous benefit to both students and partners, Richard Costidell (Law PhD Student) comments:

‘Working with the Human Rights Law Clinic has been an extremely important part of my time at the University of Bristol – it has given me the opportunity to research into issues I find extremely interesting and would otherwise not have had the chance to explore. I have been involved in numerous clinic research projects, including research into prisons and legal infrastructure in Togo and Gabon, as well as extra-judicial killings in India. This experience has enabled me to develop my research skills, particular with regards to international law and foreign jurisdictions, as well as my communication, writing and team working skills. This experience has enriched my university education while also proving to be beneficial to my core studies, as I have further developed my timekeeping skills and my awareness of the importance of deadlines. I would recommend volunteering with the Human Rights Law Clinic to any student at Bristol as it provides an excellent opportunity to engage in real legal research as well as a chance to take part in interesting and challenging human rights work.’.

Svetlana Benzinyan (Program Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative) concluded:

Working with key human rights law schools provides us with invaluable support for our litigation, connects us to the academy, and advances our work among the next generation of human rights lawyers. The Open Society Justice Initiative has been engaging with the Human Rights Law Clinic (HRLC) at Bristol in such a manner for the better part of the last five years. The HRLC has provided valuable support to the work of our thematic areas through legal and factual research, by summarising and digesting cases, and by assisting with the drafting of legal arguments in existing and developing litigation projects. These litigation projects present attractive opportunities for young lawyers to engage in the practice of strategic human rights litigation and gain the experience of working on actual cases and interacting with an NGO involved on leading international human rights issues, while providing us with vital support where staff availability is constrained’.

Further information

Our selection of litigation clinics is aimed at establishing a geographically diverse network, and HRLC provides not only that geographic element, but the diversity of its student body allows it to accommodate specific language and subject-matter expertise requirements. Combined with a well-organised oversight structure for the clinic, we have also found it helpful to undertaking multi-tiered or multiple parallel projects with student teams who remain responsive and engaged with our staff through to the completion of their projects.

On our end, we conduct introductory courses for new student teams; strive to provide prompt and focused feedback on work product and the outcomes and impacts achieved with the support from the HRLC; and ensure effective inclusion of students in information sharing and any substantive seminars we can include the HRLC students in.

There will be an opportunity in October 2016 to apply for a place in next year’s clinic.

Please note that students must have undertaken or be currently undertaking a module in human rights or international law. For further details on the work of the clinic or to find out more about how to apply for a place please see the HRIC website or contact the Centres administrator suzanne.mills@bristol.ac.uk