Marta Janina Skrodzka
Faculty of Law
University of Bialystok
Poland
Clinical Legal Education ­
Legal Clinic at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok
What is CLE all about
Clinical Legal Education (CLE)
=
"an interactive method of teaching law students the
legal skills they will need in order to become competent,
conscientious and ethical lawyers"
(E. Rekosh)
Two main goals: education and social mission
Historical facts:
- the idea appeared at the very beginning of the 20th century
- it became well developed in US in the 1960s
- it became popular in Europe in the 1990s
- Poland ­ first Legal Clinic was established in 1997
2 Clinical Legal Education
Legal clinics in Poland
Białystok ­ University of Białystok
Białystok ­ Białystok School of Public Administration
Gdańsk ­ Gdańsk University
Katowice ­ Silesian University
Kraków ­ Jagiellonian University
Kraków - Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University
Lublin ­ Catholic University of Lublin
Lublin ­ Maria Curie-Skłodowska University
Łódź ­ University of Łodź
Olsztyn ­ Academic Association of the Law and European
Education Propagators ,,Wspólna Europa"
Olsztyn - The University of Warmia and Mazury
Opole ­ Opole University
Poznań - Adam Mickiewicz University
Rzeszów ­ Rzeszów University
Słubice - Collegium Polonicum
Szczecin ­ University of Szczecin
Toruń ­ Nicolaus Copernicus University
Warszawa - Academia Iuris Foundation
Warszawa - Warsaw University
Warszawa - Lazarski School of Commerce and Law
Warszawa - Leon Koźmiński Academy of
Entrepreneurship and Management
Warszawa - Management and Law Academy (WSZiP)
Warszawa - Stefan Kardinal Wyszyński in Warsaw *
Wrocław - Wrocław University
* Legal clinic opened in 2006
Białystok
Warszawa
Lublin
RzeszówKraków
Katowice
Opole
Wrocław
Łódź
Poznań
Toruń
Gdańsk
Szczecin
Słubice
Olsztyn
3 Clinical Legal Education
Academic year 2006/2007 in numbers
9399 cases were submitted to legal clinics between October 2006
and June 2007;
2327 (25%) were civil law cases;
1302 students and 197 teachers worked in the clinics;
1 teacher supervised the work of 6 students;
7 cases were solved by one student.
4 Clinical Legal Education
Comparing to the previous years ...
6596
7421
9833
9399
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
2003/2004
2004/2005
2005/2006
2006/2007
1302
913
1279
1049
197179147109
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2003/2004
2004/2005
2005/2006
2006/2007
Number of cases in years 2003-2007 Number of students and teachers
in years 2003-2007
students
teachers
5 Clinical Legal Education
Number of cases accepted by the clinics
Total: 9399
(9833 in academic year 2005/2006)
* Clinic opened in 2006
1958
1012
880
791
586
454
390
334 329 328 325 293 258 249 205 201 184
127 121 101 98 80 57 38
W
arszaw
a
(A
I)
W
arszaw
a
(U
W
)K
rakówKatowiceSzczecin
SłubiceW
rocławRzeszów
Poznań
Lublin
(K
U
L)
O
lsztyn
(A
SPPiEE)G
dańsk
Łódź
B
iałystok
(U
wB
)
W
arszaw
a
(W
S
HiP)
Toruń
Lublin
(U
M
CS)
O
lsztyn
(UW
-M
)
O
pole
B
iałystok
(W
SA
P)
W
arszawa
(W
S
ZiP)
W
arszaw
a
(W
SPiZ)
K
raków
(CM
U
J)
W
arszaw
a
(U
KSW
)*
6 Clinical Legal Education
Number of clinical teachers
Total: 197
(179 in academic year 2005/2006)
* Clinic opened in 2006
27
19
15
11
10 10 10
8 8 8 8
7 7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4 4
3 3
2
W
arszaw
a
(A
I)
K
raków
(UJ)
W
arszaw
a
(W
S
H
iP)
B
iałystok
(U
w
B
)Katow
ice
Łódź
Toruń
G
dańskSłubice
W
arszaw
a
(U
K
SW
)*
W
arszaw
a
(W
S
PiZ)
Lublin
(U
M
C
S)R
zeszówSzczecin
O
lsztyn
(U
W
-M
)
W
arszaw
a
(U
W
)
B
iałystok
(W
SA
P
)
O
lsztyn
(A
SPPiEE)
K
raków
(CM
U
J)
Lublin
(K
U
L)Poznań
W
arszaw
a
(W
S
ZiP
)W
rocław
O
pole
7
Clinical Legal Education
Types of cases
15
416
14293150106
398421
591
817
992
1180
2327
2012
CivillawCrim
inallaw
Fam
ily
law
Laborand
Unem
ploym
entlaw
Inheritance
lawHousing
law
Adm
inistrative
law
Refugee
and
foreignerlawFinanciallaw
SocialaidHealth
care
Violence
againstw
om
en
Disabled
NG
O
other
Total: 9399
8 Clinical Legal Education
Time of handling the case
Short
explanation
(1-2
meetings, up
to 2 weeks)
49%
1 year
and more
1%
Between 2
months
and 1 year
9%
Several
meetings
(2 weeks
- 2 months)
41%
9
Clinical Legal Education
Sources of information about legal clinic
Other
25%
Friends
30%Family
12%
Information
brochures
8%
Internet
13%
Radio
1%
TV
2%
News-
papers
9%
10
Clinical Legal Education
Have the clients used professional legal advice
before?
No
83%
Yes
17%
11
Clinical Legal Education
Present status of the legal clinics in Poland
There are very few NGO based legal clinics in Poland.
Almost all of the legal clinics in Poland are recognized by the Universities as a part of the legal
curriculum at our law schools (as one of the mandatory classes that are offered to the students).
Legal Clinics are present at every state law school and at almost all private law schools.
Some of the legal clinics gained a status of a chair or laboratory (in cities like: Krakow, Warsaw,
Bialystok, Lodz)
All of the legal clinics that are based at the Universities get all the office costs covered as well as
the professor's salaries paid by the Universities.
Legal Clinics Foundation and a group of legal aid NGO's with a support of the Ombudsman
drafted a new law on access to legal aid. The Ministry of Justice included legal clinics activity as
a part of the national network of institutions that will provide so called pre-trial legal advice and
basic legal information to poor people.
12 Clinical Legal Education
Bialystok Legal Clinic ­ short introduction
* Established in 1998 as a Tax Law Clinic;
* Developed to a 9-section clinic in 2006/2007;
* Provided over 3000 legal services during last 10 years;
* 51 students and 11 supervisors (faculty members) working at
the clinic in the 2006/2007.
13 Clinical Legal Education
Structure
14 Clinical Legal Education
Additional activity of the Bialystok Legal Clinic
Seminars and trainings for all members (i.e.: legal ethics,
professional responsibility, psychology);
Cooperation with the Ombudsman;
Internship program: The Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights,
The Ombudsman, several law firms in Bialystok;
Annual publishing of most interesting cases;
Student Information Points Program (Police stations);
Cooperation with the Legal Clinics Foundation (2nd National
Legal Clinics Conference in April 2004 and 8th National Legal
Clinics Conference in October 2007);
Establishment of the Judicial Practices Center.
15 Clinical Legal Education
Annual Reports
Clinical Legal Education16
Divided into particular sections' statistics:
number of cases accepted and rejected;
number of students and supervisors working in the
section;
types of problems dealt with in different fields of law;
types of documentation prepared by the students.
Annual Reports
Divided into particular sections' statistics:
- number of cases accepted and rejected
- number of students and supervisors working in the
section
- types of problems dealt with in different fields of law
- types of documentation prepared by the students
17 Clinical Legal Education
Sample of the Report ­ civil law sections
Period: Oct.15 ­ May.15 2007
Number of cases accepted: 124
Number of cases rejected: 7
Number of students: 18
Number of supervisors: 3
18 Clinical Legal Education
Sample of the Report ­ civil law sections
1. FAMILY LAW:
Pleadings prepared by the students:
- divorce petition
- separation petition
- increase of alimony amount petition
Legal opinions prepared by the students:
- premises for divorce/separation
- protection from future debts of the partner in marriage
- seeking alimony from unemployed parent
19 Clinical Legal Education
Sample of the Report ­ civil law sections
2. LAW OF THE SUCCESSION:
Pleadings prepared by the students:
- petitions concerning the acquisition of inheritance
Legal opinions prepared by the students:
- invalidation of the last will
- relinquishment of the inheritance
3. OTHER:
- usufruct contracts with minors
- reporting the change of address
- blank bills of exchange
20 Clinical Legal Education
Thank you