Law and Development Clinic
About the course
ANU College of Law students will have the opportunity to collaborate with students and supervising academic staff at a law school in a developing country. The choice of developing country and the choice of partner law school will be at the discretion of the ANU College of Law, and will align with partnerships with developing country law schools, the ANU international strategy, relevance to unit learning outcomes and assessments, and safety.
The collaboration will involve research of topics in the chosen developing country, with the topics adopted in coordination with the academic staff of the partner law school. Collaboration will occur in English. Topics will relate to Law and Development, with potential issues including, but not limited to, rule-of-law, justice, access to justice, professional ethics, human rights, gender rights, LGBTQI+ rights, indigenous rights, environmental law, and social justice.
The course aims to;
- provide students with a clinical experience in a developing country, so as to see firsthand the legal and social justice issues arising in a developing country.
- guide and support students in identifying, developing and applying practical legal skills in Law and Development.
- develop students' critical understanding of the role of lawyers in providing access to justice in a developing country.
- contextualise the study of law and student learning in the wide range of other law courses.
- encourage, promote and validate student aspirations to promote access to justice and equality before the law specifically in relation to disadvantaged people and communities.
- encourage students to critically consider the effect of the law and its ability to deliver and or facilitate justice in a developing country.
Selection criteria
The course is only open to ANU LLB/LLB(Hons) and JD students. Students may only apply if they have completed (or will have completed) all six LAWS1000 or LAWS6100 level compulsory courses. Priority may be given to latter year.
Applicants will be shortlisted taking into account GPA, year of study, and responses to questions in the application form.
Students must have a current passport with expiration date no less than six months after the start date of the course.
Accommodation and expenses
Further information will follow and arrangements are dependent on the ongoing travel restrictions ensuing from the pandemic. If travel is still not permissible; when the course is scheduled to run in 2022, the course will be run remotely.
Travel insurance
Students will be insured by ANU Insurance for the official duration of the program as well as a total of 12 days private travel, either side of the program. For example, 7 days before and 5 days after. If your travel duration extends beyond this period you will need to purchase additional insurance at your own expense. Chubb offers additional insurance coverage via Chubb Travel Insurance.
To be covered by ANU Insurance, you will need to complete an ANU Travel Approval Form. Please ensure that the start and finish dates do not exceed ANU insurance cover period as set out above. Further information about insurance will be provided to successful students as part of their pre-departure briefing.
Enrolment
Successful applicants will be provided with a permission code to enrol in LAWS4301/6301 Law and Development Clinic.
