Descripción del Problema a Área de conocimiento

scrupulous in this regard.

The other challenges facing mobile law clinics are the same as those affecting campus and off-campus clinics depending on the type of work of the clinic.

4.2.3.4 Expectations of clients, students and clinic staff of mobile law clinics

The expectations of clients, students and staff in mobile law clinics are the same as those for campus and off-campus clinics. In addition the clinic staff expect students to be particularly diligent in ensuring that client files do not go missing between the main clinic and the mobile clinic.

4.2.3.5 Impact of mobile law clinics

The impact of legal aid work in the community will depend upon whether the mobile law clinic undertakes general practice, specialist or public interest litigation. An advantage that mobile law clinics have over off-campus and campus clinics is that they visit the communities they serve. This places them in direct contact with the community at grassroots level.

While general practice mobile law clinics, like campus and off-campus clinics, serve the community at large, specialist and public interest law firms are much more restrictive in whom they accept as clients. In such situations, as in the case of campus and off-campus clinics, mobile law clinics need to ensure that there is a proper referral system for poor people who require legal aid not provided by the clinic.

4.2.4 Farm-out law clinics

Farm-out law clinics are based on cooperation or partnership agreements between law schools and outside bodies such as NGOs, other private bodies or government departments. 102They differ from campus clinics, off-campus clinics or mobile clinics in that administrative control of the clinic vests in the host organization.

4.2.4.1 Operational strategies regarding farm-out law clinics

Farm-out law clinics usually involve students working in a legal or paralegal NGO or government office involved with the administration of justice or correctional services. Students are required to serve a certain number of sessions with the institution concerned under the supervision of the management of the organization. They are supervised by the personnel of the host organization and usually have to produce a written report on their work and experiences regarding the administration of justice or correctional services.

4.2.4.2 Opportunities in farm-out law clinics

Farm-out law clinics provide law students and faculty members with an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with NGOs and publicly funded bodies that are involved in the administration of justice and correctional services. Students also obtain a unique insight into how these bodies operate in practice. Farm-out law clinics also remove the load of daily supervision from the shoulders of the regular law clinic staff.

102 A farm out approach is used by the University of Botswana legal aid programme – only a handful of students are able to work in the campus clinic.

29

4.2.4.3 Challenges with farm-out law clinics

The main challenge with farm-out law clinics is to make sure that the law students who are farmed out to NGOs and publicly funded bodies involved in the administration of justice and correctional services are properly supervised. Farm-out law clinic programmes may lift the load of daily supervision from the shoulders of the staff at the main clinic – depending on how well the students are supervised by the host organisation. Supervision by outside bodies needs to be carefully monitored to ensure that students receive the type of practical experience and community service that is required by the programme.

4.2.4.4 Expectations of clients, students and staff in farm-out law clinics

The expectations of clients of farm out law clinics, as in the case of the other clinics, are that their cases will be dealt with timeously by their legal aid advisors, and that they will not be unnecessarily referred to other people or institutions for assistance. They will also expect the students to be available for consultations on the pre-arranged dates.

As in the case of the other clinics, the expectations of students in farm-out law clinics are that clients will keep their appointments. In addition students will expect that professional staff from the host NGO or public institution concerned with the administration of justice or correctional services will be available to supervise their work.

The expectations of legal aid clinic professional staff are that the students will do their work properly, and that the professional staff at the host institution will supervise the students adequately and submit a report on each student’s work.

4.2.4.5 Impact of farm-out law clinics

The impact that a farm-out clinic makes on the community depends upon the nature of the work done by the host organization to which the law students are attached. If the organization provides general legal advice and assistance its impact will be the same as that of a general practice clinic. If its work involves advice and legal representation in specialist or public interest law cases the impact will be the same as for specialist or public interest law clinics.

In order to maintain the credibility of the community, where the farm-out clinic offers a restricted specialist or public interest law service it should ensure that there is a proper referral system for poor people who require legal aid not provided by it.

4.2.5 Community law clinics

Community law clinics involve law students living in a community, (usually during a vacation period), in order to identify and record the types of legal problems encountered by the community. They are then required to research the problems and provide appropriate solutions.

4.2.5.1 Operational strategies regarding community law clinics

The operational strategies adopted when running community law clinic programmes will depend upon whether the students have to work in communities during their vacations or on week-ends. In addition a decision has to be made whether the students are required to identify systemic rather than individual problems in the community. The types of problems identified will determine whether the solutions will be individual-based or systemic. Students in community law clinic programmes are required to write up their experiences and solutions. They also have to follow-up with action from the main law clinic or other role-players who can assist. Community-based law clinics in which law

30