Legal Clinics and Access to Justice in Croatia: Perspectives and Challenges
| DOI | 10.1177/2322005817730151 |
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Essay |
Essay
Legal Clinics and Access to Justice in
Croatia: Perspectives and Challenges
Zvonimir Jelinic1
Abstract
In this article, I dwell upon the Croatian system of free legal aid in civil and administrative matters.
The background of the system, its problems and deficiencies are firstly discussed. Primary attention
is on the legal framework for legal clinics, their position within the system of legal education, the
importance of their role within the system of free legal aid, types of legal assistance that legal clinics
can provide and the way they are obtaining financial support for their operations. We shall also try
to foresee the future of Croatian clinical legal education under the present normative scheme and
propose some steps that, we firmly believe, have the actual capacity to promote further development
of clinical legal education within the system of free legal aid.
Introduction to Legal Assistance and Access to Justice:
The Cornerstones of a Just Society
It seems appropriate to start this article with one of Deborah L. Rhode’s quotes which brilliantly explains
the gap between principle and practice.
‘Equal justice under law’ is one of America’s most proudly proclaimed and widely violated legal principles …
millions of Americans lack any access to justice, let alone equal access … according to most estimates, about
four-fths of the civil legal needs of the poor and two to three-fths of the needs of middle-income individuals,
remain unmet.2
Although the American legal system of legal aid and cost allocation differs significantly from the
European model of securing legal assistance and access to justice, the background of the problem remains
the same. Legal problems of many people all around the world are left unresolved because they cannot
afford access to professionals, providing advice on legal matters. At the same time, it is an old rule that
legal problems not solved on time show tendency of gradual escalation, thus becoming more complex
and consequently more expensive for resolution.
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Law and Civil Procedure, Faculty of Law, University of Osijek; Director of the Legal
Clinic ‘OSIJEK PRO BONO’, Osijek, Croatia.
2 Deborah L. rhoDe, access to Justice 3 (2004).
Asian Journal of Legal Education
5(1) 99–108
© 2017 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2322005817730151
http://ale.sagepub.com
Corresponding author:
Zvonimir Jelinic, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Law and Civil Procedure, Faculty of Law, University of
Osijek; Director of the Legal Clinic ‘OSIJEK PRO BONO’, Osijek, Croatia.
E-mail: zjelinic@pravos.hr
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