Strengthening Clinical Legal Education in Bangladesh: Lessons from the East West University Law Clinic Experience

Speakers

Sayeed Hossain Sarwar, Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, East West University

Session Description

The session primarily focuses on the challenges law schools in Bangladesh face in institutionalizing clinical legal education (CLE) programs. It highlights the key structural barriers to establishing and sustaining CLE programs in Bangladesh: lack of funding, lack of interest and awareness of the utility of running CLE programs among law students, law faculties, university administrations, and legal professionals, lack of academia-industry collaboration in CLE initiatives, etc. Thereafter, the session showcases the East West University Law Clinic, how it has been run since its inception in 2023, its challenges, and the plans to expand its activities. An interactive session actively engages the participants in brainstorming to develop actionable solutions to overcome challenges that Bangladeshi CLE programs face. The session concludes with informed recommendations for stakeholders to ensure the future upscaling and sustainability of Bangladeshi CLE programs.