Pro Bono and Human Rights Practice: Crossing the Bridge That CLE Creates

Speakers

Theodore Te, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines College of Law

Session Description

The session will focus on how CLE can help law faculties/law schools develop critical thinking, social consciousness, identity formation, and relevant practice readiness in their students. The study and teaching of law cannot be done in a vacuum. An uncritical and uncontextual teaching and study of law, devoid of a consideration of the local situation prevailing in the area that law operates in, is unhelpful as it produces lawyers who are merely legal technicians but not committed advocates.

Clinical Legal Education, with its combined focus on doctrine and experience, is a valuable tool in teaching and learning law. It creates a bridge between the traditional idea of lawyering (learn and apply the law as written) and the non-traditional idea of lawyering (learn but also question the law as written). It develops in the earliest instance, i.e., in law school critical thinking, social consciousness, and identify formation that leads to relevant practice readiness in law students. CLE opens up areas of practice that would be considered non-traditional, i.e., pro bono practice and advocacies for human rights.

The presentation focuses on how CLE programs can create that bridge.