Legal Assistance by Clinical Law Students: A Nigerian Experience in Increasing Access to Justice for the Unrepresented
| DOI | 10.1177/2322005816640335 |
| Published date | 01 July 2016 |
| Date | 01 July 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Legal Assistance by Clinical Law
Students: A Nigerian Experience
in Increasing Access to Justice
for the Unrepresented
Sam Erugo1
Abstract
Access to justice is assured for all in principle, and the concept closely associated with rule of law.
The technicality of law itself compels the role of legal practitioners in ensuring access to justice.
Consequently, human rights instruments, including the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, guarantee the right to legal assistance and representation. But do the provisions guarantee the
freedoms in practical terms to all, including the poor and unrepresented citizens? This article argues
that sections 35(2) and 36(6) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and similar provisions elsewhere have
nothing to offer the poor in terms of legal representation. In essence, the rights ‘to remain silent or …
until after consultation with a legal practitioner’ and to defend ‘by a legal practitioner of’ one’s choice
have no useful application to the poor. A poor man arrested, detained or charged cannot exercise
stated rights without legal representation. Few may be lucky to have free legal practitioner assigned
to represent them, yet the assigned cannot be ‘his choice’. Others are left unrepresented in any form
whatsoever. Clinical law students now offer limited legal assistance to poor unrepresented persons in
Nigeria. There is no claim that these students can take the place of legal practitioners to satisfy the
guarantees, but in the absence of any legal assistance, this is welcome development. But how does this
legal assistance work? This is illustrated by a Nigerian experience of this exciting practice. The scope is
restricted to Nigeria, and specifically ABSU Law Clinic.
Introduction
The concept of access to justice is a legal requisite and its ambit is incredibly misconstrued and exploited
by many stakeholders. The pursuit of access to justice for all in Nigeria seems essentially rhetoric,
academic and elusive in practical reality. The quest for this ideal access has led to several permutations,
calculations and formulations. One of such formulations is the recent use of clinical law students to
provide legal assistance to the indigent and underrepresented members of some communities. This
practice is gradually becoming an acceptable global practice. As part of their legal training, clinical law
students in many jurisdictions have been specially prepared and inspired in social justice setting to
1 ABSU Law Clinic, Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.
Asian Journal of Legal Education
3(2) 160–173
© 2016 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2322005816640335
http://ale.sagepub.com
Corresponding author:
Sam Erugo, ABSU Law Clinic, Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.
E-mails: sam.erugo@yahoo.com; erugo.si@absu.edu.ng
To continue reading
Request your trial