Students of Tashkent State Institute of Law (TSIL) and its Legal Clinic participated at training on legal clinical education, supported by UNDP Country Office in Uzbekistan.

The training covered such issues as history of legal clinical education, competence of the legal clinic, work with clients and others. Students cemented newly obtained knowledge through role plays.

As it is known, legal clinical education provides opportunity to students to improve their skills through rendering legal services to population, who has no means to turn to legal firms. Currently, several legal clinics operate in Uzbekistan, which allows lawyer students to practice, while population receives free legal services.

The event was supported by UNDP’s Project “Development of Capacities of the National Human Rights Institutions in Uzbekistan”. The main objective of the project is to strengthen capacities of the national human rights institutions and relevant bodies to effectively fulfil their mandates for promotion and protection of human rights in Uzbekistan.

The project focuses primarily on activities relating to human rights matters that form part of the mandate and day-to-day work of operational national human rights institutions, which would consequently improve the promotion and protection of human rights.

Opening the training, Professor Mirzayusuf Rustambaev, Rector of TSIL and Senator of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, underlined an importance of legal clinic education in context of judicial reform in Uzbekistan.

Gulnara Ishankhanova, head of Tashkent branch of Uzbekistan Bar Association, sharing this view said: “Students will have opportunity to meet people, who need legal aid, and help them to solve their problems.”

UNDP in Uzbekistan has further plans to support Legal Clinic education in the country that will contribute to better access to justice and rule of law. Currently, UNDP supports Legal Clinic under the UWED through its project “Legal Aid and Legal Literacy for Better Access to Justice”.

The main objectives of the project are to improve access to justice for people who cannot afford or have limited access to legal services, such as women, the poor, the elderly and people with disabilities and to increase quality of legal services through training of law students.