UNESCO Madanjeet Singh South Asian Institute of Advanced Legal and Human Rights Studies (UMSAILS) organized a lecture session on 03 December 2012 on "Legal Aid Clinics: The Benefits of Service Learning" by Dr. David W. Tushaus, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies of Missouri Western State University, U.S.A.
The lecture focused on the objectives and activities of legal aid clinics at US law schools.
According to him, law is for ensuring people’s access to justice and legal aid clinics are instruments to ensure that.
Elaborating on clinics’ legal reform works,
Professor Tushaus said that students learn skills needed to practice law
and the values of reform work in providing community education and
working for legislative reforms.
Law clinics allow students to be engaged in analysis of issues, critical thinking and civic engagement.
He observed that law clinics focused on learning by
doing. Given the lack of opportunity for people to access to justice in
Bangladesh, he opined that clinical legal education could be an
instrument in this regard. It could also contribute to reform of a
pro-people legal and justice system.
He urged for a role of regulatory body like
Bangladesh Bar Council and professional bodies in promoting clinical
legal education in Bangladesh.
Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, a Human Rights Lawyer,
moderated the session. A total of 20 law students, practitioners and
judges attended it.
Professor Tushaus is now teaching at Banaras Hindu University in India as a Fulbright-Neheru Scholar.
Dr. Tushaus earned his Juris Doctor (JD) and
Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa-
Iowa City; he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University
of Missouri- Columbia, U.S.A.
Prof. David Tushaus with Student-Volunteers at UMSAILS
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