Regional law students advocate for Human Rights

Fifteen students from across the region have recently completed the Human Rights Law Clinic at the Hugh Wooding Law School for the 2013/2014 academic year.

The Human Rights Law Clinic is a specialist programme of the Legal Aid Clinic at the law school, which aims to train participating students to educate the public on human rights issues, and be equipped to promote respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, and work for social justice.

The main objective of the Human Rights Law Clinic is for students to learn important lawyer values, skills and attitudes through the medium of human rights education.

The students were assessed through their delivery of several human rights education activities including writing articles on complex legal issues for the average newspaper reader and making presentations to high school students on the fundamentals of human rights. Teamwork was also tested, as the students were divided into groups of five to complete charitable outreach projects of their choice.

One of the groups created and produced a colouring book comprising 18 drawings depicting the rights of the child. These illustrations draw inspiration from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through sponsorship, 200 copies of the colouring book were printed and distributed to the several charities, including pediatric cancer patients. Crayons were also distributed with the colouring books.

Another group chose to work with the Amica House children’s home, which is located in the vicinity of the Hugh Wooding Law School. The group spoke about human rights to a group of 25 children at the home between the ages of 3 and 5, and worked with the children to create a mural, depicting the rights of children. Materials such as paint, paintbrushes, wood, and containers were acquired through sponsorship, and the group allowed the children at the home to participate in the project by each placing a painted handprint on the mural. A library was also created by the students for the benefit of the home. A book-drive was set up at Hugh Wooding Law School and over 300 books were collected.

The third group embarked on an education project on the right to bail. The project was chosen as there is a large number of persons in the region’s prisons who are eligible for bail, but who are unable to secure same as they may not be aware of their rights and the procedures for obtaining bail. The group organized a two-hour panel discussion at the Hugh Wooding Law School on the importance of bail and the procedure required to complete a bail application. The students also created a “Guide To Bail” outlining the factors to be taken into consideration in granting bail and the conditions thereto.

Throughout the term, the Clinic also focused on the issue of the death penalty in the region and freedom of the press. In observance of World Human Rights Day, the Clinic in partnership with the Kingdom of the Netherlands hosted a seminar on Human Rights, Women and Children, featuring Professor Cees Flinterman, Professor Emeritus at Universities of Utrecht and Maastricht.

The Cinic is conducted by Jason Nathu, a Tutor attached to the Legal Aid Clinic at the Law School.