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Frustrating Times: Notes from the Field
Get PDFBusiness Law Clinics’ involvement in advising Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) reached an interesting crescendo during the pandemic as businesses were often left high and dry by business customers and suppliers who could or would not fulfil their contractual obligations. SMEs, often sole traders or limited companies with no business premises, found themselves unable to access government support and facing insolvency. Many had no contracts in place, or they sought to rely on their terms and conditions of business only to find them lacking due to reasons grounded in law (there is no freestanding concept of force majeure under English law and if a contract is silent on it, English law will not imply it) or process (lack of incorporation of terms through their own fault). In this note I seek to examine the impact of the pandemic on the concept of force majeure and contractual remedies for SMEs in the UK and to contemplate the role of business law clinics in advising SMEs on the use of terms and conditions in business-to-business (B2B) contracts as part of successful operations in the post-Covid world. Drafting sets of terms and conditions for SME clients is a perfect vehicle for meeting the goals of a university business law clinic – community engagement with local SMEs providing them with fast, tailored advice with a bespoke tangible document to take away plus student experience of real- world learning in commercial law (experience which is not always readily available for students outside the big cities)
The Barriers to the CLE Practice in Russia, in Comparison Light with the European Union and the United Kingdom
Get PDFClinical legal education (CLE) is commonly used to refer to a law teaching method that incorporates experiential learning aimed at development of students’ legal knowledge and skills. At the same time, CLE also has social justice mission as it serves the needs of vulnerable members of society. Like any other teaching methods, CLE requires a specific environment and factors to be in place to embrace its mission at maximum level and to allow its learners to reach pre-defined learning outcomes. While researching in three Western European university legal clinics, and then studying the legal clinics in Russia, I have reached the conclusion that CLE in Russia cannot fully exploit its mission and reach its objectives. While some barriers that prevent Russian universities to effectively run CLE are obvious, there are also the ones which will be new to a reader. Below I discuss the factors that could be considered as barriers preventing CLE practice in Russia to be effective in driving for its mission and goals, both from educational and social justice perspectives
Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018: Effective deterrent or empty gesture?
Get PDFIn 2018, following a significant increase in violence against NHS staff and others serving the public, the UK Parliament passed a piece of legislation which included the creation of a new offence category, ‘Assault against an Emergency Worker’. The intention was to codify the aggravating nature of assaults against emergency workers as a reflection of the moral outrage such behaviour should attract. However, the actual implementation of this law has been criticised as adding very little to the lofty promises of promoting a “zero tolerance” culture. In this paper we review the new legal framework and attempt to highlight potential effects arising from its implementation
The Role of Legal Clinics in Promoting Human Rights: The Experience of Nigeria Law School Yenagoa Law Clinic and The Legal Support and Care Centre at GD Goenka University School of Law Gurgaon India
Get PDFLegal clinics are playing a very prominent role in promoting human rights and filling global access to justice gaps through justice education. In turn, they provide access to justice for the poor and marginalized in fulfilment of this social justice mandate. Clinicians realize that human rights and justice education is key to their social justice mission. Apart from adding statements about the importance of justice to their mission statement, clinics have in place programs fundamentally oriented around a vision of justice. Students in clinics play very important roles in achieving their clinics’ social justice mission and goals by sensitizing youths, women, children, inmates and citizens to change thought processes and mold the social fabric needed for a just society, promoting a culture of lawfulness through generating solutions to several social issues that results in good citizenship, improved policies, good governance, access to justice and effective remedies. Generally, the objective of this paper is to share case studies from the Nigerian Law School Yenagoa Legal Clinic, the Legal Support and Care Centre at GD Goenka University and Legal Aid Society at The NorthCap University, Gurugram, Haryana, India of how legal clinics are promoting human rights, access to justice, a culture of lawfulness and sustainable development through their work in communities, schools and prisons. The first section lays a background on the role of law in shaping society, the second focuses on the conceptual and theoretical frameworks. The third section examines the framework that provides the mandate education for justice and human rights. The fourth section assesses the role of law schools and clinics in promoting education for justice, human rights and a culture of lawfulness while the fifth section deals with conclusions and recommendations
Participation in the Court of Protection: A search for purpose
Get PDFThe Mental Capacity Act 2005 (‘the Act’) (UK) and associated rules and guidance aim to support the person with impaired decision-making to participate in decisions about their life. More than a decade after the Act came into force, there is uncertainty about what it means for the person (‘P’) who is the subject of proceedings in the Court of Protection (‘CoP’) to participate in court hearings. This paper reviews the law and guidance on participation of P as well as the limited published research on P’s participation. The authors identify gaps in the current legal framework and conclude that research which captures the views of judges, practitioners, and not least, P and their families and carers, is a necessary step towards improved CoP guidance and practice promoting the participation of P
Book Review: 1. Compulsory Mental Health Interventions and the CRPD, By Anna Nilsson (Oxford: Hart, 2021) and 2. The Right to be Protected from Committing Suicide, By Jonathan Herring (Oxford: Hart, 2022)
No full textThe Shape of You, or in Other Words, why Teach Entrepreneurial Awareness as a Clinical Attribute?
Get PDFCommercial law clinics are not a new phenomenon, and indeed in this very journal reports and academic commentary have been presented which identify and explore the nature, formation and operation of such clinics. However, these contributions focus on how clinics and their student volunteers can help commercial enterprises and start-up ventures with various legal issues they may encounter. Clearly, the need for such clinics and the value they provide to the students and community are immense. Where the clinical offer outlined in this report differs, and on which we hope a meaningful contribution to the body of scholarly knowledge is made, is in using a clinic setting with a simulated corporate client to operate two (elective) modules that enable the students to gain a thorough appreciation of those issues which underpin the formation and operation of a corporate structure. A simulated law firm is the setting through which the modules operate, albeit most of the tasks and issues raised in the modules would equally apply to other professions. By using the simulated client approach we are able to guide the students in helping navigate the client through every aspect of the journey of the business – its inception, the legal sector in which it will operate, its mode of incorporation, its clients and the generation of business, legal policies and issues likely to be faced in respect of running a business, its marketing and advertisement, professional body regulation and compliance, the financing of the business, and an appreciation of the stakeholders (and underlying philosophies) with whom the business and its personnel will engage. This clinical perspective allows the students to proactively develop strategies to navigate the owner through myriad complexities, whilst gaining valuable feedback regarding the efficacy of their decision-making and being empowered to adopt revisions to accommodate numerous changes in the professional, legal and financial environments. The main aim of this clinical experience (which we describe in Section 3) is to develop in the students a commercial awareness and understanding of what is required to be an entrepreneur in a modern legal service setting. This requires moulding their ‘shape’ as a legal graduate
What can be Learned from International Exchange between Legal Clinics: Report on the Experiences made during the ENCLE Conference in 2022
Get PDF“ENCLE” is the European Network for Clinical Legal Education. It is the networks’ goal to connect persons committed to achieving justice through education. ENCLE brings together persons from different countries, who exchange perspectives and work collaboratively from a variety of legal, educational and organizational settings in order to promote justice and increase the quality of law teaching through Clinical Legal Education. The yearly ENCLE conferences are one part of achieving this goal. The 9th conference will take place on July 17 and 18th 2023 in Liverpool. In joyful anticipation of the conference, I would like to share my experiences as a (former) German clinic student at the 8th conference in Brescia, Italy