Vision
The Legal Clinic is a community-based voluntary legal project that aims to practice multidimensional legal activities at the academic, professional and societal levels through providing free legal services, establishing legal institutional relationships and connections that have an impact on the Palestinian society. The project aims also to create active participation in the academic, research field as well as in the practical legal aspect in addition to enhance student participation in various legal aspects to reach integration between legal sciences and reality.
The work of the Clinic is based on facilitating the provision of legal services, strengthening the enforcement of law, spreading legal awareness, and working on establishing esteem for human rights and justice.
Legal Clinic Services
- Legal Services and Consultations
The legal clinic and its volunteers being students of the Faculty of Law at the Arab American University provide citizens with free legal consultations reviewed and finalized by the legal clinic. This constitutes a social contribution by providing free legal assistance in coordination with the Palestinian Bar Association and various human rights institutions such as the International Legal Foundation (ILF), the Independent Commission for Human Rights, Musawah, Aman, the Center for Human Rights Defenders, Save the Children, and various women's organizations.
- Promoting the Culture of Scientific Research
This is done through conducting scientific research and academic studies in the field of legal sciences, and the involvement of students of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies in various legal programs and students of the Faculty of Law (Bachelor’s Degree) in writing articles and legal research as well as publishing them in proposed journals or in various reputable legal journals.
- Academic and Scientific Cooperation with Various Institutions
Networking with similar institutions and centers, governmental institutions, civil society institutions and international institutions related to the scientific field that the center aims to develop within a scientific framework, with the aim of achieving scientific and academic cooperation. This cooperation is also characterized by the form of communication with influencing parties such as the Fatwa and Legislation Office and the legislative committees in the legislative authority to work on proposing laws and harmonizing them in accordance with international accords, and in a way that guarantees the protection of human rights and groups that are entitled to special protection.
- The proposed legal clinic course
Training bachelor’s students at the Faculty of Law at the Arab American University within a course entitled “The Legal Clinic” that enables students to mix between theoretical academic study and practical legal reality by training them to provide various free legal services and consultations provided to citizens as a basis for the idea of the legal clinic, promoting the idea of work with a team spirit, the ability to prepare legal reports and communicate with governmental institutions and various civil society institutions, participation in organizing conferences on issues that affect them as active members of Palestinian society, creating qualified legal personalities to join the various legal institutions in Palestine such as: Human Rights Defenders Center Various women's organizations defending women's rights and empowering them in society, and various child protection institutions and learning the fundamentals of legal research, which leads to productions such as (publishing a scientific paper, participating in scientific research), and thus creating a seed for building a researcher generation. One of the advantages of the proposed legal clinic course is that it works to host members of active institutions to highlight the ideas of strengthening the prevalence of law and justice, promoting civil participation and all the goals and aspirations that the clinic aspires to consolidate in a way that serves the Palestinian society.
- Practicing Community Service through the Legal Clinic
This is done through a proposal to the Faculty of Law to direct all students of the faculty towards practicing 100 community service hours, which is considered a compulsory university requirement for obtaining a bachelor's degree, as an alternative of limiting community service to traditional services that are confined to the purely service side; It will become available for students to practice modern and realistic forms of community service with a legal and practical nature that will benefit them in the professional and academic future after graduation.
- Conferences and Workshops
Organizing scientific conferences specialized in various legal fields, and encouraging specialized local and international researchers to participate, through which a journal is published containing the refereed research participating in the scientific conference, which leads to building bridges of communication with scientific and intellectual proficiencies and preparing workshops on various legal fields, specifically public opinion topics and sensitive topics that have an impact on society, whether inside or outside the borders of the university, in order to raise awareness and consolidate the legal culture and be a pressure in order to activate the prevalence of law.
- Cooperation with Palestinian Law Faculties and Faculties of Graduate Studies
The Legal Clinic shall create Coordination with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Law and other legal faculties in Palestinian universities, through publishing the research of students of law faculties that they prepare during their studies for courses in various fields, whether at the bachelor’s or master’s level, in addition to the possibility of faculty members contributing to legal research or articles published in a legal journal proposed in the Faculty or in various academic journals, as well as all forms of academic cooperation, exchange of experiences and others.
- Practical Coordination with the Graduate Programs at the Arab American University
Coordination is made with various graduate programs such as (Master of Commercial Law, Master of Criminal Law, Master of Civil Law, Master of Constitutional Law, Master of International Law, and Master of Conflict Resolution and Development), and with the Faculty of Law, by recruiting specialists, whether academics or professionals with experience in the topics of the courses and the subjects that are taught, in order to give lectures in coordination with the lecturers of these courses, to give a practical nature to the theoretical information provided, and to coordinate with the various practical courses, such as the moot court course and the exchange of legal knowledge.
Target Groups
The legal clinic targets the following groups:
First: Citizens who wish to obtain free legal services and advice, specifically the poor and marginalized individuals and groups who do not have the costs of visiting a lawyer to seek legal advice, and who also do not have the judicial expenses to defy injustice or claim a right As well as citizens wishing to raise awareness in various legal issues and citizens, academics and professionals through activities, workshops and legal conferences.
Second: Students of the Faculty of Law and students of graduate legal studies programs at the Arab American University.
Third: Students of the Faculty of Law and legal graduate programs in Palestinian universities in relation to the activities of the clinic for academic and practical cooperation with various Palestinian universities and other legal clinics in Palestinian universities.
Conditions for Volunteering in the Legal Clinic
First: The volunteer must be a student at the Faculty of Law or a student in the various legal graduate programs at the Arab American University.
Second: Volunteers must have the desire to practice the activity that the legal clinic specializes in and to commit whereof.
Third: The volunteer must be under the supervision of the legal clinic, and to adhere to its work plans and instructions.
Governing Standards
- Scientific research originality.
- Linking between practical and theoretical reality.
- Diversity of scientific knowledge.
- Intellectual and cultural openness.
- Independence and objectivity.
- Continuing education and training.
- Free of charge provided legal services.
Partners
- Governmental institutions.
- Civil society organizations.
- Competent Syndicates.
Address of the legal clinic
Clinic Office: Jenin, Arab American University, Faculty of Law, Third Floor
Clinic Director Mobile: 0598844339
Email: Legal.clinic
aaup.edu
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Director of the Legal Clinic
Mr. Ibrahim Yahya