Tuesday, 28 July 2009
UNDP Uzbekistan has supported legal clinics throughout the country in order to imrpove access to justice for the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable.
Two new legal clinics have recently opened at Namangan State University and Karakalpak State University, in addition to three already established legal clinics within the Tashkent City Bar Association, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy and the Tashkent State Law Institute. Another legal clinic will open at Samarkand State University later this year.
Students in their final years of law school provide free legal aid to people who could otherwise not afford a lawyer. They meet with clients, discuss their legal complaints and issues, carry out research, and help draft legal arguments with the assistance of their curators - lawyers and law school professors.
Work at the legal clinics is not part of the law school programme, and students do not get academic credits for working in legal clinics. However, legal clinics give students the opportunity for hands-on legal experience while providing pro bono legal services to poor clients.
"It is getting more popular day by day among students who want to join as well as ordinary people seeking legal aid," says Kseniya Ryjkova, Director of the legal clinic within the Tashkent Bar Association.
The clinic has received 437 cases since becoming operational with 115 cases opened in the first 3.5 months of 2009, says Ms. Ryjkova.
Muhabbat Kaipova, a clinician and a third-year law student at Karakalpak State University, says that most cases so far are about divorces and alimonies.
"We are proud that 11 of our graduates decided to stay and work for our clinic," said Ms. Ryjkova. "Six of our graduates work as lawyers now, while 17 assist lawyers, and four graduates went on to study abroad."
Since gaining independence in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan has faced a challenge in the promotion of justice and human rights.
Over the last decade, the Government of Uzbekistan has established institutional structures for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the National Human Rights Centre, as well as the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Parliament, or the Ombudsman. The country's authorities have also collaborated with international partners, including UNDP, on democratization reforms.
UNDP Uzbekistan support to the legal clinics falls under the project: Capacity Development of National Human Rights Institutions in Uzbekistan. UNDP Uzbekistan is supporting human rights by helping to develop national capacities to integrate international human rights obligations into the national legal framework, raising awareness of the principles of international human rights, and assisting with increased access to justice - especially for vulnerable groups.
UNDP supports national human rights institutions to strengthen their capacities, including the National Human Rights Centre, the Uzbekistan Bar Association, the Parliament, and others.
Evgeniy Abdullaev, Programme Legal Specialist with UNDP Uzbekistan says the major activities of the project involve providing consulting services and training for staff through, facilitating study tours and participation in international events in the area of human rights and access to justice in order to broaden experience and enhance knowledge of the institutions' staff.
UNDP will continue support to the legal clinics, particularly in organizing training courses, workshops and study tours for university faculty and law students to learn best practices in the provision of legal services.
"We are also supporting the development of training manuals and publications to improve curricula for the clinics and to facilitate cooperation between the legal clinics and the national human rights institutions and other relevant bodies," says Mr. Abdullaev. "All that is aimed at widening the access to justice for people."
A recently approved project links national human rights institutions, legal education and resource centres at the grass-roots level.
